Disturbing Concepts
by Whisper from the Shadows
Summary: The Supreme One; we know the spark that lit the fire and we know the storm that brought her reign to an end, but what happened to get from one point in time to the other? This is the first installment of how time became irrelevant and invaluable.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, this first little bit is going to be REALLY confusing, It's Shego, talking to Shego, and remembering talking to Shego (the rest will only have one Shego's POV, so it'll be a lot easier to follow)... I intentionally didn't define which Shego was talking/thinking, because it is the same person that experienced both sides and is telling the story. The first few chapters are going to be Shego jumping around through time, more reflection than actual story, I think it'll be around chapter 6 when the "story" part will actually take off. Something that might throw you off is tense, I will constantly be changing from past, to present, to future tenses of words, I promise it will only last through her observation/reflection. Please bear with me, and if you have any questions, just drop me a line and I'll do my best to explain what I meant.

* * *

Time. Funny thing time. It never works the way you expect, well at least when you try to move through the fourth dimension like the other three. At the same time in history, you can have everything you ever wanted, nothing worth having, and be in the process of achieving either... as someone close to me once said, "Time travel, it's cornucopia of disturbing concepts." Fortunately, if you have the ability to manipulate time, you have all the time you want to figure out how to make things work. Or at least, that's what I thought... Here's how I managed to get everything I ever wanted and then loose it before I ever had it. Yep, cornucopia of disturbing concepts.

* * *

I'll start where I started things... well, where I told myself to start things. I started it quite a few years back, I grabbed my shoulder and pulled myself out of the plush-crazed man's laser rigged vault, "Listen closely." I knew I wasn't going to listen to myself right off, it would take a bit of convincing.

Right on cue, I retaliated, "I can't believe it. I have told Drakken a thousand times: 'No clones'!" I began to wonder if I was always so predicable.

Well, no since in dancing around the facts, "I'm not a clone."

"You're not?" Wow, was I always this slow?

"I'm you from the future." See, no room for questions, simple facts, even I can't ignore facts when I wave them in my face.

I began to rub my head, "Ohh! I hate time travel." Glad to see some sentiments never change.

"Listen, we don't have a lot of time. Ok, actually we do, well, we will." Great, now I'm starting to confuse myself... again.

"When you wanna make sense, just let me know." Wow, no wonder Dr. D gets cranky when I get lippy with him, I want to slap myself.

Not wanting to waste my time I decided to go with the direct approach, "Grab the time monkey."

Now, I am a fairly stubborn person, anybody who's ever met me will attest to that fact. It took a little more time than I wanted, but I finally convinced myself to grab the time monkey and stay out of the way while the other three idiots got thrown into jail in the past.

I remember lipping off, "Hm, going to prison sure sounds like a waste of time. Of course, with this I can waste all the time I want," before stepping into the red swirl brought into existence by my will focusing through the stone monkey in my hands.

* * *

Now, I wasn't sure where, or rather when to go first. My first stop was back where I called the present (a rather vague term I've come to find out), the time I lived in right before I followed the freak stooges into the past. It was what I was most familiar with, and I knew how and where to keep out of sight.

I always said I needed time, now I had all the time I could ever dream of and I didn't know what to do with it. I finally decided to take some time off, away from the rest of the world, away from Kimmie, away from villainy, away from everything... well, except Midas and his golden touch. Yes, those few days, weeks, months (well, time is a relative thing) were great. I'd start my days with a seaweed facial, so relaxing; then I'd take a short (and by short I mean I kept it under and hour) dip in the mud baths, it helped cleanse my pores; a steam shower later and I had those amazing hands working every worry away until I made my way to the sauna to marinate in those mind clearing vapors. Yes, life was good.

As crazy as it sounds, I kinda got bored. And not to mention, I was starting to show the fact I was getting lazy (the high carb Italian diet might have contributed). So, I decided to do some traveling... I visited different eras in the past, present and future, learning every fighting style that caught my eye. Everything from Chulukua-Ryu to MCMAP, several different oriental martial arts... and even though I don't like to admit it, I even studied the GWA for a while. Having all the time in the world, and then having some left over, I was able to master every art I put my efforts into, years of training didn't matter to me.

But I knew, that no matter how good I was, Kimmie would always be there to stop me from accomplishing my goals. Now, when I was taking a walk down memory lane with Blue Boy, I said some things about crushing Kim when she's young... well, I blame the philosophical focus that accompanied my martial trainings, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I found myself at the hospital minutes after her birth, hands glowing... and I couldn't do it. I tried different times through her life, even once in her sleep, but I found myself questioning whether this is what I really wanted.

Besides, I realized I needed the little, or big depending on the time, brat to keep myself in top shape, and I felt I owed it to her on some level to actually beat her face to face. I almost wish I could have got the training without the honor codes being irreversibly drilled into me... almost.

Finally, I decided to pull off what I'd been helping Dr. D fail at for years... take over the world. Like I said, I knew Princess would be there to stop me, unless I found some way to remove her from the picture. And as I already said, I couldn't see myself removing her without a semi-fair chance, so I had to find a more ingenious way of removing her. I spent the next few months, or well, that's what it seemed like to me; in actuality I covered many years from that first mission saving the plush loving freak till she had taken a desk job at GJ. It took the entire time studying her before I realized what caused her success.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot on the last chapter, so pretend this is there too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

Watching Kim turned out to be surprisingly easy. I mean security companies for school systems aren't the most secure. I didn't even break a sweat when I would sneak in and copy the tapes to review. The hardest part was making sure the cameras were at the key points I wanted, and that only consisted of bribing the installation guys with a case of brew when MHS was being rebuilt from that gas leak explosion, or was it a chemistry experiment gone wrong that time... I swear, in every time-line that MHS exists it gets destroyed more times than any building should.

There was one that I absolutely had to have in place, one watching her locker. My high school days sucked being green and all, but I do remember that a girls life revolved around that area right in front of her locker. Before school every morning, between every class, and the last stop before freedom at the end of the day. And in this case, I learned a LOT about little miss 'I'm better than everybody'. I found out that she has an unhealthy obsession with Dr. D and me, she has wanted pictures of the two of us posted on the door of her locker where a normal girl would have a mirror and pictures of her friends, family, and crushes; but not her, and to top that off, the majority of her locker is taken up by a mini-super computer connecting her to another kid with serious issues trying to stop crime from his computer (well, in most time-lines, sometimes he's trying to take over the world using those same computers). And her sidekick was always there too, I don't know if he had a locker somewhere else or what the deal was, but he was always there.

Another place I made sure I could watch was the gym. I'm not weird, and didn't try and have cameras put in the locker rooms (though the construction crews were considering it after a few cases), but I knew Kimmie was a cheerleader. I already harbored a resentment for cheerleaders because of the things they put me through when I was that age, and the fact that she managed to cheer _and_ come kick my tail on a regular basis just rooted that hatred a little deeper. But I needed to see what she was capable of, sure I'd fought her time and time again, but I needed to know what her limits were. We always had relatively short fights, before Stoppable blew up the place or Dr. D's machine did their job for them, so I needed to see how she did after longer periods of strain and exercise. Let's just say, I was more than impressed. Little Kimmie has stamina, like the Electric Rabbit, she keeps going and going and going. And somehow or another, she convinced the rest of the squad to let her little lap-dog join as the mascot.

The last place at the school I watched was her classes. I didn't pick much up here, aside from the fact that there seemed to be one relatively handsome teacher that appeared to teach about half the classes in the school. Made me reconsider going evil and maybe use that degree I have for a while. One thing that bugged me, was the fact that she could just skip out on class whenever to go save the world, and she still pulled out great grades with seemingly little effort on her part, maybe her she picked up more from her parents' genius than I originally thought. And I was beginning to wonder whether those two were attached at the hip, he probably just enrolled in the same classes she did for protection because they were in almost all the same classes through the day.

Once I made ran through that footage with a fine-toothed comb, I decided that I needed more, something more personal. Now before you go accusing me of being all stalkerish, let me make it clear I didn't do anything creepy. The bathroom was strictly off limits for any and all forms of surveillance, and I only put listening devices in the bedrooms. And yes I said bedrooms, as in plural, if I was going to get to know what makes Kim tick I had to know what her family is like and how they influence her. Speaking of her family, they are a crazy bunch. Her mom is the closest to "normal" as any of them and she's a brain surgeon, granted her advise always seemed sound. Kinda wished I had someone like that to give me advice growing up. Her dad on the other hand, oblivious to everything not involving rocket science and the delusion that his 'Kimmie-cub' is still a little kid, is a complete nut case. And I finally figured out how she managed to keep her reflexes honed, having to constantly dodge miniature rockets would keep anybody on their toes. And having that second set of eyes always watching her back probably doesn't hurt, Stoppable probably spends as much time there as he does at his house.

Now that I had a little insight on her home life, I decided to tag along on some of her missions. Now I'd seen her in action more times than my ribs ever cared to, but I'd never been able to just sit back, watch, and learn. Courtesy one of Dr. D's forgotten inventions (from a few decades in the future), I was able to walk around invisible while watching her kick many evil butts. Naturally I started out by watching her constantly stop Dr. D, I mean I knew what to watch for there. And as I remembered, she'd beat all the goons then I'd step in and we'd fight for a few minutes before we would be interrupted, usually by an explosion or two caused by Ron.

I figured the next place to watch her fight would be the only other villain with _any_ sense of fighting ability, Lord Monkey Breath. I always thought the eccentric noble was off his rocker when he was talking about becoming the "Ultimate Monkey King" and becoming a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, but after a few trips down different memory lanes, I realized that the style is solid, weird but solid nonetheless. Heck, in a few time lines he managed to do some pretty amazing stuff (including take over the world, I left as soon as I could, it reminded me too much of an old movie I saw about monkey's evolving and taking over the world from humans). But, like I said, while Tai Shing Pek Kwar may be weird, it is a very effective hand to hand combat technique, so watching how Kim managed to beat it (or in some cases, get beat by it) I figured would be a good learning experience... Little did I know Banana Brains wouldn't fight her, something about her not being a worthy opponent, and would only fight her dopey sidekick. I about turned off the stealth ring I'd acquired from the future just to kick his hairy hide for not considering her a worthy opponent, she regularly beat me and I know I can beat him. Basically all that I learned from watching her face Monte was Monkey Kung Fu is worth paying attention to and that the sidekick's randomness may not be as inconsequential as I originally thought.

Now, Dr. D's goons are worthless, even with muscle rings stolen from HenchCo they were useless. Anybody who has ever met them will agree with me when I say high schoolers kidnapped from the computer room during lunch hour would be more competent fighters. However, some villains aren't so cheap, namely Dementor. He always hires the biggest and the best that HenchCo has to offer, personally I think he's trying to compensate... but to each his own. The first time I saw Kimmie man-handle all those meat heads with ease, I figured they just didn't have any training, then I realized that they were HenchCo branded (literally, branded like cattle) goons from the upper echelons of the training/cost scale. At that moment I came to the conclusion that throwing bodies at her wouldn't work, she knows how to engage multiple targets simultaneously and with ease, even those that are physically superior to her. Heck, even Stoppable was able to handle more than one at a time with his antics, maybe training isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Now I noticed a few things while watching the little firecracker bounce around the world. The most important thing I could find about little miss goody-two-shoes was her sporadic performance. At first I figured it had something to do with "the beast" that all women have to deal with, unfortunately I was wrong. No, that overly perky cheerleader is never dragged down by cramps, or bloating, or mood swings, or... lets just say she is one of the lucky ones. And when I figured out that wasn't the problem, I had to dig deeper to find the cause. I noticed even before I was able to time travel, that she would sometimes beat me with ease (well, as easy as I could make it for her) and other times I barely seemed to lift a finger to face her. With the ability to watch every aspect of her little life, I found the root of her irregular performance... boys.

I swear, if she just got out of a relationship she ought to just stay home, because she can't fight worth crap. I mean there was the time right after the news was all about her and some jock breaking up, and I didn't even get warmed up before the Doc's doomsday device blew up. She more than made up for it a couple weeks later, she was single, just spending her free time hanging with her off-kilter friend, when she showed up and almost had me running for the hills before I saw a little pink blur race out from under the newest "ultra-doomsday device"... making it the newest "ultra-pile of scrap metal". Finally, the answer was readily available; all I had to do was take a walk through her life watching every boy she interacted with to see which one, or ones, had the most effect on her. I quickly decided the meat-head in the news wasn't that big of an issue. However there was this fruitcake artsy guy that had her completely spineless, he had a major impact on her, several times they got together then split. I watched her enter and quickly leave several relationships, none that really meant anything... until a couple years into what was my future, well my future if I didn't change it, or if I did change it but... never mind, in the timeline I originally came from without any interference from me, I found out who was the biggest influence in her entire little world... Ron Stoppable.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just a bit more "people watching" and gathering information on the 'enemy'. Just a bit more plotting and string pulling before she starts interacting with people again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

Okay, this little tidbit completely floored me... the buffoon and princess? Together? It just doesn't register quite right. I figured the best way to understand this would be to watch from the beginning... well, not their beginning, but the beginning of them going out. I turned on the Observer Ring - another gift from somebody's future, same stealth tech as the one I had been using, but also made me intangible, I had a feeling I'd need it – and took a step through time to watch things unfold.

So there I was, watching Dr. D and my future self. I had no clue what he was planning, and he didn't seem to have any intention of telling me what he was planning... didn't really matter, he'd fail like he always did, but I'd like to know how much danger I'm in before hand. I knew I couldn't interfere, I might cause myself more problems than it's worth. When he went off on his rant about me not figuring things out, I was impressed at the apparent solidness of the plan... but impressions can be wrong. It wasn't very long after he got the ball rolling that Kimmie showed up, I honestly figured that this was the end of this hair-brained scheme. That is until I realized she had about as much of a clue what was going on as the me from this time period did.

I promised myself I wouldn't interfere, yet again. I knew she was going to win, I'd already seen her in white while the buffoon was standing there in a penguin suit. For some reason it bugged me to see that day, almost as much as the 'new guy' bugged me. Yes, one of Dr. D's more ingenious creations bugged the crap out of me, _Eric_ was an abomination... although, I have to give him props on doing his homework on what the girl likes. He was the personification of a "pretty boy", handsome but not unbelievable so, he made nice with Ron right off the bat and as I'd come to discover, his approval is one of the most important things in her world; not to mention he had a bike and a programed personality that was as slick as Ed's hair after oil change day, heck if that was my thing I would probably fell for it. And it was like a light switch, she went from the super-confident "I can do anything" overly perky cheerleader we all know and hate to a "goo-goo-ga-ga" I can't even form a complete sentence moron; needless to say, I found it hilarious. I watched her for a couple days after they started "going out", the idea still makes me shudder, but realized she was out of the game due to distraction, that left the buffoon.

I swear, watching him try and figure things out was better than Kimmie. The kids ideas were pretty funny, and not that far off from some things I had managed to talk the Doc out of doing in the past. It was interesting, but bugged me for some reason, to watch him go through an entire range of emotions with 901. I mean, when they first met he went from angry at him for stealing his parking spot to best bud mode as soon as the droid started playing him about his "machine and the road".

Then the real roller coaster ride started for him, Princess went to la-la land with Goo-Boy, and Ron's world came crashing down around him. Then the one place he went as a safe haven, his refuge, Bueno Nacho, was taken out from under him like a cheap rug. Dr. D may not have intended to, but the introduction of the kids meal alone would have destroyed him, mixing that with his cheap side taking away the bendy straws and poor Stoppable didn't have a chance. Unfortunately for Drakken, Ron's obsession with the little fast food joint put him in prime position to see the beginnings of his onslaught. And of course, where was the first place the future buffoon went? That's right, straight to Kimmie, interrupting the Prom and all. You could almost feel the tension in the air between the bag of jelly and the blonde as they had words, but eventually better judgment won out and Miss "I'm so perfect" listened to the smarter one of the two.

They made their way back to her house to get ready, they knew this was big. I thought it was game over for a bit (and I'd already seen the future and knew they were supposed to come out fine in the end) when the Little Diablos turned into Not-So-Little Diablos. I'm not sure how it worked, but the genius portion of the Possibles revamped Ron's little scooter to a point where I even said it was nice (you know, in a slightly geeky way). That thing has some serious balls to it, and they all got used on the way to the BN there in town. I was honestly surprised at how easy the tower was to take down, I mean seriously easy. Then they got the call saying that was only a distraction, and now he had "Eric", it took a lot of self control not to say something at that point to tip the duo off, for some reason the idea of a synthodrone being the downfall of society was really bugging me.

The tires on that little machine lit up again, and when the smoke cleared they were a ways down the road sliding to a halt in front of BN headquarters. Ron was like a kid in a candy store playing with the new toys their tech genius had supplied, it was rather refreshing to see that type of innocence. Of course he was pouting that she got a super suit, and he didn't. Which, to be honest, I don't blame him, he would probably have made it look a little better than her (of course that could just be my own bias speaking). But then there's the fact he is rather cute, in a buffoonish kind of way, when he is pouting. All in all though, their plan was fairly straightforward, not much room for variation. Sneak in as far as they can, then smash the rest of the way, not pretty, but effective nonetheless.

The fights were rather uneventful, I mean sumo boy was out by lip-gloss with little to no effort by anybody (he did give everybody a good laugh though). Watching Kim fight me was not fun, the banter was not the best for either of us, and she was cheating (curse that super suit). It took quite a bit of restraint not to step in and help. I was momentarily distracted from watching myself get beat when somehow the big ninja managed to wake himself up and Ron was left to fend for himself, I almost left for fear of stepping in on that fight. It just didn't seem fair watching the little blonde fighting a titanic shadow, but I guess that's what I learn about appearances, the mountain of a man came down like a ton of bricks.

About this time I had been put out of the fight temporarily and 901 showed his slick face. Kimmie went back to la-la land, and from what I could see his appearance wasn't good for Ron's blood pressure. Of course the imitation followed his programing and betrayed them, the anger in Ron's eyes surprised me as I watched myself blindside him en route to save the little firecracker. Watching myself tie them up I notice that even this me took notice of his fairly impressive build.

I always wondered how he stayed as fit and trim as he did, I mean he woke up in a BN storeroom and asked if this was Heaven, that much fast food cheese can't be good for the heart, he's gonna die at 40 of a heart attack. His demeanor quickly changed when he sees Kim beating herself up, he wouldn't let her give up. Those few moments proved to me how she was able to do everything she did, he wouldn't let her quit, he was her driving force. Then came the turning point of everything, he said those four words that kicked her into overdrive.

I stepped outside as Rufus cut them free to see Dr D gloating, and me being my typical snide self towards him. Those two finally stopped his rantings by bursting out, Ron taking Goo-boy and Kim going after the other me. At first I thought those two were going to just storm right through 901 and me, but I was holding my own and 901 was trained to fight without fear or concern of self-preservation (Dr. D _did_ remember to put in that function at least) and happened to have Ron in a bit of a bind... that is until his rodent friend poked, or rather bit, a hole in Pinocchio. And for the first time I know of, Drakken said Ron's name, granted it was after Ron beat on him a little, but at least he managed it. Both of me got a bit of a chuckle out of this, apparently seeing me smirking while we were fighting pushed a wrong button in Possible. We exchanged a few words before she kicked my worn-out hide into the control tower. Two words describe that moment: Game Over.

Well, at least it was game over for the Diablo scheme, but it was just the beginning for those two that night. She dragged him off, back to the dance. They had finally admitted how they feel to each other, and all that other mushy crap, and now she wanted to "show the world". Gag me with a spoon, please. I'm not sure why, but it was REALLY bugging me that I was part of the reason they ended up getting together in the future. What made it even worse for some reason was once they made it back to the school, there was this bitchy brunette that pointed and laughed calling him a loser and I really wanted to just beat the ever living pulp out of her. Here he was, he just risked his life to make sure her prom, not to mention the rest of her life, went smoothly and she has the gall to call him a LOSER. I about broke my own promise not to interfere until I was ready to take over things, didn't want to ruin my own future. And then something even weirder happened, everybody else in the gym started cheering... well that's not so weird I guess, but the fact that I didn't like people cheering about them getting together _was_ weird. I decided that I'd had about enough of this, and figured a trip to Midas might do me some good.

It wasn't a few minutes later (well, at least from my perspective) that I was face down getting all my stress squeezed out of me by these massive hands that I let myself begin to think about things some more. I already knew, at some level, that Kim needed Ron to be as effective as she was, I figured they'd get together sometime (even if it was only a fling to see how things would work out). What I didn't expect was my own reaction to it when I actually saw it happen, I was pissed. And I didn't know why, I mean seriously, what's so special about Stoppable? He's goofy, uncoordinated, loyal to a fault, weird (that's different than goofy, right?), kinda cu... NO! Dang it, he's Possible's man, well he will be, won't he? And even if they don't work out, why would he want, er, I mean why would I want anything to do with him? It's not like he said _I_ was cute or anything... wait, he did, didn't he?

Apparently, when you get stressed your muscles tighten. The man with the golden touch commented, "You are supposed to be relaxing, forget about all your worries, this is your time. The rest of the world will be waiting on you tomorrow, and who knows what time will bring." I couldn't argue with his logic at the moment, and allowed myself to drift into a state of marination.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I will be making slight references to a few different stories in this chapter, if you see something of yours referenced here and would like it edited out, drop me a line.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

The next time I woke up, I started to wonder about the power the Tempus Simia possessed. I mean, what are it's limits, or does it have any? What powers it, is it possible to harness the power it produces for other purposes, or maybe figure out how it powers itself and how to replicate the technology. The ideas that I was considering were starting to give me a headache, so I decided to go with a more practical approach, see how much time travel I could do, and how far it was able to send me in one go... Boy, was I in for a trip and a half. In the future I kept hearing the term 'time stream', I always thought that was a singular entity; but no, not so much, it's more of a river than anything, where you are in it determines when you are in it as well as which time line. Yes, you heard me, there are multiple time-lines, as in multiple universes that all start from the same point and with every passing second there are an infinite amount of options that reality could and does take. Towards the figurative 'middle' of the time stream is the time-line I originally come from, there are several that are right next to it that turned out very similar, minor variations that are hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. The farther you get from there, the farther from what I was used to things were.

I'll put it this way, the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer is a child's toy compared to this. And to make things even better, it reacted completely to my will, none of this worrying about having the right frequencies and all that other technical mumbo jumbo the Doctor is always worried about. I made sure that I could always get back 'home' and decided to see how far 'out there' the banks of the temporal river were... that was a mistake and a half. It's not that what I saw was always bad, but it was just that much more information I had in my head to factor into how to take over the world. I mean when every universe I visit is actually a possibility of things that could have happened to me... it just gets to be a massive brain pain.

One of my favorite things to see were the ones where both Kim and Ron turn evil. I've seen Ron evil, and was throughly impressed by his aptitude, but when you throw Princess 'I can do anything' into the mix on the wrong side of the law, it's almost not fair. Ron's actual evil genius being applied to their schemes mixed with her level headed tactical approach made them unstoppable (or close to it in some worlds). I almost wanted to just say screw trying to take over on my own, and just join them (then I figured we'd just spend the next 15 years trying to take it from each other).

I was surprised at how many worlds had one of the dream team breaking down under the stress. Whether it was just saving the world, life in general, or self induced stress, I saw Kimmie checking in and out of rehab, I've seen Ron drain a fifth of whiskey, and I've seen them both trying to take their own life. Sadly they sometimes succeeded. I mean it's not like that wouldn't make my future plans a little easier, but Kimmie always seemed too strong to fall to that kind of pressure and Ron is supposed to take life too easily to need to resort to chemicals for escape. I learned quickly to avoid those realities, especially after seeing myself in one.

I know it probably sounds weird, heck I'm still not sure what I was thinking when I went looking. But I figured I'd see how far out there things got while staying within the realms of our section of the time stream, see what kind of strange situations I could find myself in. I do believe that I found some things that would have been better not found, I about beat several different versions of myself for some of the stunts they pulled (I say they, not me because I would _never_ do the things they did). I saw myself dating her, yes, Miss 'Overly-Perky, Can-Do-No-Wrong, Uber-Goody-Goody' Possible. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!! That is just beyond sick and wrong, it's wrongsick at a whole new level. Oh, it doesn't stop there, no my curious streak got the better of me, I began to wonder if I ever got desperate enough to date Stoppable. Go figure, there were quite a few times that I ended up with him, I guess the shock factor had worn off after seeing myself as a bona fide womanizer and it didn't seem to affect me nearly as much. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more since it made... but nah, it'll never happen.

I know I've claimed to have wanted to do things that would give up my guise while hopping around via the _Tempus Simia_, but there was one thing that just took the cake. I let Drakken clone me, I thought at first I just had unstable twins (I saw that once, so I wouldn't have been surprised) but then I saw that I had consented to allowing that atrocity... the only thing that prevented me from destroying that little corner of freakish reality is the fact that it wasn't _my_ freakish corner of reality, and I knew _I_ wasn't that stupid (and all you smart asses that are thinking that was me, you're wrong and I have cosmic powers that say so).

There were a few stops that hit a bit close to home, some that made me seriously think about how I've lived my life. When I saw myself happy, with a loving family, and not running from the law I had to seriously take another look at how I had lived my life. I mean, it didn't really matter who I ended up with, the idea that I _could_ have had a nice, comfortable, almost normal life was something I had to seriously consider. A few times it looked like I was lucky enough not to be around when that Gorram comet hit, leaving me without the freakish green skin that has cursed me most of my life. I actually got to put to use my teaching degree when I didn't look like the Wicked Witch of the West. But I got to figuring, if that comet never hit me, I wouldn't have been a hero, left to go evil and end up working for Dr. D, resulting in my many contacts and eventually coming in contact with the _Tempus Simia_, and if all that never happened I wouldn't be standing here having these thoughts... oh, I feel another brain pain coming on.

Before it could really set in, I just opened a portal without really specifying a time/location... bad idea, I'm talking miles, no lightyears, of bad road. I found myself facing horrors that I thought only existed in the twisted minds of movie writers, invincible freaks wearing hockey masks carrying over-sized rusty machetes, another one that looked like a human pin cushion... I quickly got out of there, very clearly specifying that I wanted as far from here as possible.

I found out that as far from there as possible was... interesting. I found a multitude of universes that had nothing at all in common with what I was used to, I saw Princess' life being broadcast on the television via animation, granted the animators made me look pretty good, the idea that we were just the figments of someone's imagination was laughable. One of my favorites was this one I wandered around for a while in, some of the vehicles were alive; Military vehicles and civilian vehicles pitted against each other in a covert war on Earth. I almost felt sorry for some kids I ran across, for some reason they had all kinds of strange mutations, some of them made me look normal in comparison. Strangely, most of them stuck with the good side, even after all the ridicule they put up with, better people than me I guess. And, the farther into the future (no matter which universe) I got, the more interesting technology got. Space travel becomes commonplace almost everywhere "downstream", and that really put my mind to ease about my appearance; there are some, to quote Adrena, "FREAKY!" things out there in space.

It's weird, but no matter how different each time stream was, there were some things that were almost guaranteed to be a constant factor. First and foremost, Kim depends on Ron, even if she's dating some other guy (or girl), she always reverts back to him for a foundation. If she doesn't have some Ronshine in her life, she is almost unstable. And on the flip side of that coin, I never saw Ron not being someone's anchor. Granted most of the time it was Kim, but occasionally I saw him being someone else's rock (or in weird situations, many people's rock). The kid has the ability to bring out the best in people, even while being a complete buffoon.

It's funny, the more I go looking into Kimmie's life to find out what makes her tick, the more I end up catching myself watching him. There's something about him that just draws an observers' attention. As I crawled into bed for the evening I decided that I was going to watch him tomorrow, maybe I've been wrong about him all along; something I missed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I believe Shego looking into Ron's life might equate to what he best described as "miles and miles of bad road."

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

After my morning meditations, comprised of not turning my alarm clock into a smoldering pile of ash, I decided that I should probably get busy. And again, I repeat, this was way too easy. I was getting ready to go back to coerce the installation guys again, when I remembered that he was always at Possible's locker. This time I actually paid attention to him and realized that by fluke, or maybe design, their lockers were right next to each other; that made my job of spying a little easier. His locker was rarely used for it's intended purpose, yeah it held his books, but they never left. Typically he used his locker to store food for his insatiable appetite, I swear he could eat the entire country of Japan broke if given the chance (well, him and that rodent). Not much to learn there except the fact he was never a fan of any of the guys Kim was crushing on, probably due to his repressed feelings for her, but that's a whole other can of worms.

Another thing, I guess I should be thankful for is his "never be normal" attitude in life. If it weren't for that, I would have had to find a way to watch him after school. But as things were, he was right there in the gym for cheerleading practice. I give him some credit, it takes serious stones to be a mascot and make a complete and total fool of yourself on purpose in front of hundreds of people. He obviously has issues with coordination, but took note that no matter how many times he went down, he always came bouncing back with a new fire. Stoppable wasn't so stoppable, nothing could keep him down. Of course his care-free nature did work against him some, there were a few obvious suiters for his affections, but he was oblivious. Well, at least he didn't fall for the ditzy blond bimbo that practically threw herself at him all the time.

I tried to watch him in class, but watching him skate by because of laziness didn't stimulate any part of my brain either. I looked in on many different classes, and only found him to really excel in the one class he paid attention in, Home Ec. I had to try his culinary skills when he was given reign over the cafeteria, needless to say I wasn't disappointed any at all. I knew he couldn't be as ignorant as he let people believe, I mean when he absorbed Drakken's evil vibes he proved he was no push-over when it came to beating the books. He just needed motivation, something he seriously lacked. It made me wonder if I had what it took to motivate him, whether any of the things I learned in the process of getting my teaching degree would get through to him, or whether my laid back approach would be better accepted by him. I knew it was a pointless line of thought, but it still intrigued me.

Especially when I got to reading between the lines, I realized he was one heck of an actor. He plays the lacky better than a real lacky. No one can be _that_ good, and still go unnoticed unless they were trying to go unnoticed. I spent a few hours trying to figure out what was missing, when it hit me like a ton of bricks... he's hiding something.

I knew that, just like I'd done with Kim, I needed to get some more personal information. I used the same rules, never touched the bathroom, and only put microphones in the bedrooms. Mostly I got dead air, he was hardly there, and his folks were workaholics. But I quickly noticed that his parents were just as batty, maybe even more so, than the Drs. Possible. His dad was an actuary that could do upper level statistics in his head faster than most people could do it with a computer, and Mrs. Stoppable was always nagging about something: his grades, getting a 'nice Jewish girl', cleaning the garage, and ,as would be expected, his room. I got curious, especially after he said his room was clean, and decided to take a peek. Let's just say clean for him was slightly more cluttered than I preferred, but over all I would have agreed with him. It seems when you don't use a room, it doesn't get dirty, and he used his room basically as storage and a place to sleep.

Realizing that his house was a hopeless source of anything interesting, I started watching him on missions. Going back over the the tapes I had from watching Kim, I made a point to watch his every move. A few things I saw I didn't believe the first time I saw, and had to go back and watch it again. He knew how to fight... and make it look like he didn't. There is no way he could trip and fall, bump into the right person, or duck at the right time that many times and still be called coincidence or accidental. Every move he made was impressively measured and executed; whether he was aware of his own control or not, was still out to jury. Drakken's inventions were childish compared to the things he was able to make with evil motivation, so I can only guess that the inner genius subconsciously showed itself every time he got under a piece of equipment and he needed to disable it.

I already mentioned that he was a decent fighter, without intentionally fighting, but when he tried is when things got to be pretty interesting. Good old Monte didn't have the heart to get beat by a cheerleader, made a big show about her not being a "worthy opponent" and only facing off against the buffoon. Reluctantly the sidekick was forced into the limelight whenever mutant boy showed his face. But the resulting display of hand-to-hand martial arts was amongst some of the best I'd ever seen, obviously not better than me, but still impressive considering the apparent lack of physical prowess he typically showed. I knew some of it came from watching Kim and me fight, you can't watch a display like ours without learning a thing or two.

I only had to see a couple missions where they went to stop Dementor or Killigan to realize that they weren't enough of a threat for him to even try. He was the the closest thing to comic relief I'd ever seen in real life. I always thought that things like that were overdone in stories and on television, and would never really be funny if they actually happened... I was wrong, it's just as funny, maybe more so knowing who it was.

Stopping at different times to figure out what was new and interesting in his life, I found out I wasn't the only one that thought he was more than he seemed. Dr. Director from Global Justice spent quite a few tax payers dollars on the "Ron Factor" project. They had his entire life bugged, everything he did they tried to emulate in their agents, tried to plug into an equation to find out what made him so successful. I wish I would have known about this before hand, would have saved me some time. Well, I thought it would. I found an anonymous hacker that was willing to hack GJ for the thrills of it, not a dime out of my pocket and in less than an hour I had complete access to the most worthless collection of surveillance I've ever seen. The only things I found out from that report were two things I already knew: One, GJ is full of morons; Two, Ron eats way too much fast food.

I quickly got tired of their crap and went back to my footage from the school. I was flipping through, week by week just to see if anything caught my eye, when I noticed that he disappeared for a while. I thought he might be sick, so I checked his house, and again wound up empty handed. Now I've never been accused of being a genius, but people don't just up and disappear from the face of the planet. I quickly found footage of an assembly in the gym where Stoppable was called to the front, and it was announced he was going as the foreign exchange student to Japan. I knew something fishy had to be going on, his grades were far from stellar, I'm pretty sure he wasn't familiar with Japanese, and I know he was too lazy to actually apply for something like this... so I tailed him. As soon as he stepped off the plane and met his escort to "school", I knew where he was going.

I'd been there, a few years prior to this, about 3 months after that stupid comet hit. I seemed to have issues with my temper back then as well; and a month and a half of meditation training, and some mixed martial arts training as well, with Sensei allowed me to be in the presence of my brothers without torching half the tower. The school was being it's typical secretive self, exchange program my light green butt. Heck, my brothers think I spent it at some camp for the gifted in New York (it appears, we aren't the only people in the world with strange powers).

Knowing Yamanouchi was interested in him intrigued me. They don't waste their time on anybody they don't personally see as "worthy". I almost got caught a couple times, watching him train in the use of Monkey Kung Fu and trying to master the Mystical Monkey Powers that until recently I thought were a farce. I recognized a few faces, there was one that I knew but couldn't place, until he spoke out against Ron. The second he said 'Outsider', I knew it was the same little rugrat that had pulled the same crap on me. I guess some things never change. The greatest part of watching Ron in Japan, besides stealth practice in a location crawling with ninjas and seeing him nearly in the buff, was watching Ol' Monte getting his furry pelt handed to him.

My surprise increased tenfold when I saw him return to Middleton and keep this from, well, everybody. He's not one known for keeping secrets, his tongue has a tendency to slip at the most inopportune times. After seeing his determination to zip his lip, I figured that he knew how to hold his words when he needed to. The more I thought about it, the more it fit with my theory about him hiding things. The "Buffoon" was most definitely not as much of a buffoon as he wanted people to believe.

It had to have been hard for him to keep something like that from his best friend. Especially considering he had a thing for her since day one. To tell the truth, I'm surprised they didn't get together before they did, or is it do since it hasn't happened yet? Disturbing concepts, I don't really want to figure out this whole living outside the bounds of time thing right now. I guess it's better in the long run for them that they didn't, or haven't, get together until later. They'd probably had issues with maturity and the likes and ended up ruining their friendship, or some such mushy heart breaking crap. Yawn, wake me when that gets interesting.

While Kim had her crushes, Ron's hormones weren't MIA. Not by far, the most recent, and by recent, I mean by the newest one I know about, would be Yori. The super ninja had a thing for Mr. Chosen One, but I think that was the problem. She didn't have a thing for Ron, she had a thing for the power that went along with the title of the Chosen One. I could be wrong, it happens on a rare occasion, but that's my opinion. Then there was the time he managed to fake being an all-star gamer to impress this one girl, Zita was her name I think. It's not really important, it didn't last more than one or two dates. The relationship started on a lie, and that was a bad way to get the ball rolling.

Saving the cheer squad from a mutant freak gained him the appreciative eye of a ditsy blond. Ron was of course blind to it, even after she kissed him on the cheek. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that little incident forced precious Kimmie's thoughts down that road for the first time. I'm not sure when, or which part of the time stream I was in, but that could have been the start of when the Queen of Middleton High first took notice of the social outcast known as Ron Stoppable. She obviously knew he had potential, and was all over him whenever he made a name for himself. Whether or not they ever worked out depended on which flow I followed, they did click once she calmed down a bit.

Speaking of making a name for himself, I could hardly contain myself when I watched Possible's cousin start idolizing him. I doubt it was anything more than just childhood admiration for their hero, but the idea that someone would plaster their room with pictures and posters of the goofy multi-phobic sidekick was hilarious. I shed a few tears, and my stomach hurt after seeing her esteem for his "courage".

While I was on the subject of feminine influence in the poor boys life, I figured I'd take another look at myself. I did see him on a semi-regular basis, I'd like to think I made _some_ impression. It didn't take long to jump back to the first time he ever saw me, just my crappy mugshot for GJ, or some other lucky agency that caught me on one of my days off. I was taken back by the bravado my picture brought about, I'd never really seen him that forward about finding someone attractive. Kinda made me feel good about myself, and the more I paid attention, the more I realized, he constantly was complimenting me, even when I was beating their collective tails. And, I've never been one to fall for cutesy romantic mushy stuff, but I couldn't help but remember that temple when I had him pinned to the ground, completely at my mercy. For all he knew, he was taking his last breath and he spent it complimenting me, "You know... In this light, you're kinda cute." Those words were etched into my memory, for as long as I live. Life flashing before his eyes, and he says something crazy like that, I wonder what's going on inside his head once in a while.

Watching him some more made me think that half his brain power revolves around finding his next source of food. He eats more than a small army, and in half the time. His favorite place to just chill is a booth at a fast food joint. Sure he likes to spend some free time playing _Zombie Mayhem_ with the kid with the wheels, but even then he's either eating, or trying to finish quick so he can go eat. I never realized how much time he spent on missions, really cut into personal time, but it never affected his eating. No, he either brought along a greasy bag of cholesterol, or he'd try a few of the local dishes wherever they happened to be.

I wasn't sure what kept him going on missions. It's not like he's the most adept to the physical stuff, and his lack of motivation made him a lousy planner for the pre-game stuff. I literally had to smack myself when the reason came to me. He'll do anything just to make sure _Kay-Pee_ is happy and safe. How many times did the moron get hurt on a mission, or degraded at school, just to make sure a frown never graced her face. That was one thing that really peeved me about him, he'd go through Hell and high water to help her. And for the longest time she was, will be, or has been oblivious to it (note to all prospective time travelers, it causes migraines).

The more I thought about it, the angrier it made me, so I figured I'd direct my attention elsewhere. I decided to do what GJ was unable to, to find out what makes Ronnie-poo tick. His inner-workings are more interesting and complex than the casual observer would guess. I mean, I knew for a fact that he had serious potential, I'd seen it in action, yet he always took backseat to anybody that would let him. I'm pretty sure that he'd give Ms. Flips-and-Kicks a run for her money in a sparring match if he tried, but he doesn't see himself as her equal. He holds back with every move he makes, so much self control is hiding behind that cheery facade.

I guess, if I were in his shoes, I'd be trying to hold back too. I mean if one of the few times my full potential showed through I about destroyed the world... Maybe he feels that by holding back his ability, he's holding back his inner demons, that bit of evil that he knows exists. Heck, even I know that releasing that part of his personality would be a bad idea for everyone. The only person, Kim included, that ever actually scared me can _not_ be a good thing for the general population of the world.

Maybe that's why he's so protective of people. An unspoken guilt for what he feels inside himself, expressing itself as an over-protective quality. I swear, he'd probably take a bullet for his worst enemy if given the chance, just so he didn't have that on his conscience. So protective of everybody, yet he takes whatever people dish out, it's like he has no regard to his own well being, as long as anybody and everybody else is happy. Why does he have to be such a martyr, I wish he'd just stick up for himself one of these times. I mean, one good knock on the noggin of most bullies will get them to back off. It's not that I really care what happens to him, it's just frustrating to watch.

Then there's his almost innocent outlook on the world, he sees everything with a childlike wonder. I've never seen someone so amazed by the little things in life. He'd be happy for the rest of his life if he could have Bueno Nacho every day and spending time with his friends, even if they didn't do anything besides just "hang out".

Not that that is a bad thing, no it's nice to see someone that isn't obsessed with themselves. It's not like I'd date him, no, I couldn't like Stoppable like _that_. I just was remembering some of the things I saw earlier. I'm not saying I wouldn't, he would probably treat me like royalty, but that's Kim's man. And thief is a title I proudly hold, but man-thief is a whole other ballgame; you won't pin that one on me.

Of course, I could try to use him to mess with my only serious obstacle in life. Never mind, he's way too loyal to ever let that happen. He'd do everything in his power to make sure he stayed loyal to her, even if I did manage to convince him to give some loyalty to me, he's not going to betray her. And even if he did... I thought Kim was ferocious now, she'd probably kill me without hesitation if she found out I was using Ron. And, as much as I hate to admit it, all this thought about using her sidekick against her made my newfound moral compass spin in circles. I knew that would go against all the training I'd just spent a considerable amount of time doing. I'm evil, why can't I just use the buffoon?

It's not like he's the best looking guy in the world, he doesn't have anything to complain about, but not the first one to catch your eye in a room. He's fairly smart, okay so he's a genius but no motivation. Kinda reminds me of me in that aspect, I'm no genius, but the lack of motivation is like looking in a mirror. He thinks he's funny, I oddly enough, get his weird sense of humor, but most of the world would agree that his antics are tiresome. And don't get me started on how charming he can be, once you get through that "I'm a goofball, laugh at me" facade he always has on. The idiot is more protective of those near him than a bulldog with a steak, it may be every other girls dream to be sheltered by the "big strong man",. But not me, why would I want someone to hold me, and make sure I'm okay? I don't need someone that is loyal to a fault, hanging on my every word, someone that stands by me whatever I do, whatever mistakes I might make...

I knew that he had no interest in taking over the world, unless Zorpox showed back up... which I've already said would be a VERY bad thing for everybody. But I needed to know more about him... And the only way I could do that is to do some first hand research.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

Research, I kept reminding myself that this is all in the name of research. The whole "...keep your enemies closer" thing; I knew she would never stop trying to stop me, so I had to know how to stop her. And to stop her, I had to know what it was that kept her going through it all. I already figured that out, it was fairly obvious to anybody who took the time, it was all Stoppable's fault she couldn't be kept down. Now I had to figure out what kept him going, I didn't expect there to be this much to him, and now I'm going to have to get my hands dirty figuring him out.

One thing I knew for sure was I had to split them up, and sooner would be better than later. I know she'd have serious issues with me looking in on her little lap-dog. Another thing was abundantly clear, don't try Drakken's plan, it didn't work. Yeah, he split the super duo for a while, but in the end just pushed them past the point of no return and it bit him in the blue tail feathers. I realized that was a couple years from my "present" time, but I figured the results would be the same. I had to physically split them up, and by a considerable distance if I wanted them to grow apart.

My first thought was to relocate Kimmie, but quickly had to discard that idea. Her folks were kinda set in their jobs and in the community, they weren't going anywhere (well, unless the Lunar Habitation Project went through). Ron's folks on the other hand... his dad is an actuary, he can work anywhere. But his mom, she worked for a global corporation, somewhere in accounting I think.

It didn't take long to find out which strings to pull, and who had dirt on them. The hard part was deciding where to send them. I quickly ruled out anywhere in the US, not only would it be a hassle getting near him, but I'm sure their collective resources would allow them to still see each other semi-regularly, I couldn't have that. Canada was ruled out even faster, not only would they still be on the same continent, but with Drakken's unhealthy obsession with taking Canada I knew it would only be a matter of time before they ran into each other; that was one conversation I really didn't want to experience. I briefly considered Japan, but decided that keeping tabs on him when he was that close to Sensei and his students wouldn't be a walk in the park; besides, I'm pretty sure I'd stick out like a sore thumb over there, and their police still aren't over the 15 squad cars I totaled last time I visited.

I mentally started naming the places I _wasn't_ wanted, and had the least chance of being deported (and the least chance of their government working with GJ). About halfway through, I ran across the perfect answer... Norway. It's isolated, travel in and out isn't easy during the winter, and the best part, Harald V, the King, owes me big time for saving his hide back when I still worked with my brothers. Within a week I had everything in place, and the call was made to move one Mrs. Stoppable to the Norway offices, where her expertise would be the most beneficial. Totally bogus, but a pay raise and moving expenses sold her and her stubby hubby on the idea.

They were settling into their new place while I watched from outside. Ron had barely put down the little device that connected him to the States, that was something I hadn't planned on. He didn't have one of those before, and for some reason I didn't think about Nerdlinger being such a sap for friendship and stuff; but he was, so I had to deal.

I was sitting there thinking about how to get their communication to slack off, or maybe even stop altogether when I woke up from a stupor. I moved him here for a reason, to find out what it is about him that's so special. And all through my planning, I pulled a Dr. D and overlooked a MAJOR detail... how am I going to integrate myself into his life? It's not like I can just go ring the doorbell and ask to come in for a cup of hot chocolate. I had to infiltrate his new world, not hard considering he knew absolutely nothing about this part of the world, but very hard at the same time considering the fact he knew me by sight and would probably flip out at the sight of me.

Having him recognize me would cause me more headaches than I was ready to deal with, so I figured that I could pull off a little espionage. I could get myself a job there teaching, maybe put my degree to use for once, but why would he ever open up to a teacher. Nixing that idea, I laughed at the absurdity of the solution, I was going back to school. Thank you Dr. Drakken for your seemingly pointless inventions. I nabbed the child's toy looking device and, after a few modifications, saw someone I hadn't seen in more years than I'd like to count staring back at me in a mirror.

I still looked definitively like me, but I was sure the age difference would throw him off long enough. I'd already come to accept the fact that I was going to have to tell him eventually, I needed him to trust me at some level. There was no way I could figure him out unless he trusted me enough to open up a little, and to earn that trust I knew I was going to have to gamble on being able to trust him. Because if _she_ found out, it'd be game over for this whole idea, and a waste of time... not that time was really an issue, considering I had possession of an artifact that controlled time.

I started figuring out the finer detail for my cover story, I had already pieced together most of my story. Looking as close to my older self as I did, I knew it had to be convincing if I was going to get by him for any amount of time. Dr. D may not have been the brightest bulb of the bunch, but he did keep some interesting company. I didn't get a degree by being stupid, and managed to pick up a few handy tricks over the years, one of those being how to hack into the military system. My "father" was stationed at the local American Air base, and wanted me to experience the local culture through the public school system. It did two things, provided me with a government subsidized house near Stoppable, and it provided a reason for a teenage American girl with dark hair to be in Norway. The added bonus was I didn't have to explain the mysterious absence of a parental figure to people, it was just accepted that he was a workaholic. I finally gave in on an argument I'd been having with myself, and put down my given name on all the forged government documents. I figured, as much as I'm going to be lying to him, the least I can do is be honest about this.

About the time I was finishing up my alias' paperwork their genius' over-confidence in his own ability worked to my advantage. The pouch on my leg vibrated once, prompting me to pull out and listen to the current conversation.

"Yeah, this ancient magic stuff, it's always so complicated." It surprised me when I caught myself laughing at that comment.

"I'm sure the monkey monks had their reasons." I however wasn't surprised that the sound of her voice almost caused my hands to involuntarily incinerate my keyboard.

Glancing back at the little screen I saw a local approaching the blond, who surprisingly shooed her away, "'Scuse me. Private talkie. Do you mind?" Looking rather dejected the girl walked away.

For the first time in a while, Princess and I agreed on something, "Rude enough?"

"I am so over blonds Kim. No novelty value whatsoever here." And sure enough, in the background I noticed that was _all_ you could see.

Shaking her head, she changed the subject, "Okay, meet me in Africa." I didn't care to hear the rest of their conversation, it was irrelevant at this point, I knew what was going to happen and really didn't want to relive that experience again. Besides, everybody that has ever watched a scifi show knows better than to go around trying to change things that don't need to be changed. I had things under complete control, and them seeing two of me might make them suspicious.

It briefly crossed my mind that I had a shoe in the door with Ron, I wasn't a blond. It's not like I really cared what he thought about me, but I knew it was going to make getting close to him easier. As a friend, nothing more, and a friend that is actually using him to figure out her enemies weakness', not even a real friend. I just had to get him to think I was his new best friend, or maybe even fall for me. Not that it matters, I am just doing this to get information out of him.

A brand new version of a migraine began to sink in, and I knew that tomorrow was NOT going to be easy.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ahh, the first day in a new school... Shego's name is borrowed from 5hadow Lady.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

I was standing somewhere I never thought I'd be again, at the front doors of a high school. I was as nervous as a piece of chocolate cake at "Big-Boned" camp, a hypochondriac in a public restroom, and a school girl on her first day... wait, I kinda _am_ a school girl on her first day. But I'm not the giddy type, I don't do nervous, I'm Shego, future ruler of the known world for crying out loud.

I noticed a few stares from the multitude of blonds entering the school, and realized how silly I must look standing there staring at the front of the building. I made a mental note as I made my way to the office to question Drakken about any possible side effects of the Juvinator, find out if there was any way I could deal without the hormones of being a teenager again.

First stop I made before the office was the bathroom, I really didn't need to go, but my nerves were going to kill me if I didn't recheck my cover. I knew this stuff was supposed to be water-proof, smudge-proof, heck it even boasted being kiss-proof (not that _that_ little detail mattered to me), but any hint of green on my skin would have been a dead give-away. I was already pushing things as it was, for some reason I couldn't find anything besides green that looked good this morning. I may not care what the Buffoon thinks about how I look, but I have an image to uphold, and I was going to look good dang it. It took all the will power I had to put my hair up. I was rather proud of my long flowing mane, but figured that would have been too obvious, even for the clueless sidekick.

Satisfied that my disguise was going to hold up to inquiry, I made my way to the office, the entire time refraining from smacking the leering gazes of the general male populace from their faces. I know I may not look like a freak anymore, but I also knew that I wasn't anything to look at really. It took me seeing a few of the girls glaring at me, or who I assumed were their boyfriends, before I realized I must have been wrong. It was so wrong, but I couldn't help myself from putting a bit more swing into my step just before disappearing into the office, the groans were audible after many of them received a smack on the arm. Maybe I could get used to High School again, only this time not looking like Kermit.

Turning back to focus on my task at hand, I shuddered at how weird this was. Here I am, fully capable of teaching in this school, and I'm enrolling to be a student, the irony wasn't lost on me. Mentally slapping myself to focus, I finished filling out the necessary forms and verified that I had made my schedule match Stoppable's. I had to keep an eye one him, make sure he got settled in, and maybe even enjoy himself here. I really didn't want him going to help Kim out when she was trying to stop me, that would just be too much of a hassle. I knew that neither one of them could stop me, but both of the could.

As small as the school was, it didn't take me long to find my first classroom. And what do you know, he was there. Well, he was physically, mentally he was in another world. He wasn't looking at anything in particular, just staring at the far wall looking bummed out.

I made my way over to him and asked, "Is anybody sitting here?"

Daydream boy never moved, just mumbled a weak response, "Nope, go for it, I don't care." I was already getting frustrated, I needed his attention, and I'm not known for my patience.

I dropped my pen back in my bag and tapped his shoulder, "I'm sorry for bothering you, but I must have left my pen somewhere. First day jitters and all." I almost felt sick as nice as I was being to him, but I knew the sacrifice would be worth it in the long run.

Again, he doesn't look my way before digging in his bag, and reappearing with a new pen, "Keep it, I don't think I'll be needing..." The look on his face was beautiful when he finally looked my way, pure and unadulterated fear plastered on his non-moving features.

Putting on my Shakespearean hat, I curiously asked, "Is there a problem? Do I have something in my teeth?" I began to pray for all I was worth that he couldn't recognize me, I knew I was younger and there wasn't a green hue to my skin, but maybe his power of observation is more than I gave him credit for.

My question broke through his stupor as he began shaking his head, "No, no problem. I just thought you were someone else. But keep the pen, I have a few." He shifted his gaze back to the front of the room, but I noticed his eyes glancing my way every once in a while.

Chancing my luck I asked, "Who did you think I was?"

Curiously he began to show signs of nervousness, "No one, sorry I said anything. Yep, forget any words ever left this little ol' mouth of mine."

I couldn't help but laugh at his ramblings, "I'm serious, I won't get mad, who did you think I was?"

A hand immediately went to the back of his head, "Well, if you're sure..." his voice dropped a few levels, "I would have swore you looked like this woman that has tried to kill me and a friend of mine a few times, only you look a few years younger." He wasn't looking at me, rather his eyes were still shifting around the room, as if making sure someone wasn't watching or listening, "Not that she's that old, I mean she's only a few years older than us if I had to guess, and the years have definitely been good on her. But still, whenever I see her that usually means I'm stiff and sore for the next couple days."

The laughter coming from me must have confused him, so I tried to cover, "No problem, I guess if I met someone who could and did beat me up regularly I'd be nervous too."

His back stiffened as if realizing something, "Yeah, nervous. I wouldn't know what nervousness is, it's not like I get nervous around pretty girls or anything. And I definitely don't start rambling on and on. Nope, not me, I'm Mr. "Laid-Back", no signs of nervous ramblings from me, I'm the Ron Man."

I couldn't hold in a small chuckle at this point, "Well, if that's the case, you wanna go eat some real food after school? My treat." Through all that rambling I did manage to pick up that he thought I was pretty, the least I could do was buy him something edible on base.

His face scrunched up before asking, "Real food? Here? As in Norway, that doesn't exist."

I smirked before commenting, "Sorry, I never really got around to introducing myself." I stuck out a hand, "Julia, I'm a military brat." I wasn't lying per se, my Dad had been in the military when I was younger.

"Oh, so you live over on base. Then why are you going to school here? Don't they have a school for the families of the soldiers?" I was surprised, but not unprepared for his knowledge.

"Yeah, but Dad wanted me to _experience_ Norway. Meaning I have to choke down this lamb and cabbage stew with a meat cake on the side during the day, and revive my taste buds with fast food when I get back."

I began the countdown until he began to drool: _three, two, one, "_Bueno Nacho? For the love of the Holy Naco, please say there is a BN."

"Well, yeah. Where else can I get processed cheese and grease laden meat wrapped in a tortilla?" Hook, line and sinker, he was mine... well, you know indebted to me.

"Yes, please. I'm begging you, I will pay even." It was kinda cute watching him beg.

For some reason I was feeling generous, "No, don't worry about it, I invited you, I'll pay." His eyes glazed over as he mumbled a response. Figuring that was the best answer I was going to get out of him for a while, I turned my attention back to the class I should have been teaching.

I'm not sure which was worse, pretending I didn't know the answers, or being surrounded by idiots that actually didn't. But somehow I managed to make it through the day without any major incidents, I held my tongue when someone said Robert Frost wouldn't know poetry if it smacked him in the face. And the only time I got sent to the principals office was when some guy cat-called me during lunch and I accidentally dropped my bowl of boiling hot cabbage stew in his lap; it's not like I super-heated it before I dropped it... okay so I did, but at least he won't be gawking anymore.

We agreed to stop by his house before heading towards base, "I really need to tell my folks that I'm going to be gone for a while. It's not like they'd notice, I'm gone quite a bit..." His voice trailed off before adding quietly, "Or, I used to be when I went on missions with Kim."

Almost feeling sorry for him I put a hand on his shoulder, "It can't be that bad, I mean if you didn't come here I'd be stuck all alone in that school." I did my best to put on a weakly hidden pout, and it had the effect I was hoping for: His eyes instantly went to me, I could see the emotions (which ones I'm not sure) fighting for precedence.

I shivered slightly, both at the intensity of his stare and the weather, and almost reacting in instinct he had his coat off and held out for me, "Here, can't have you getting sick can we? Bundle up, it's colder than Cocytus out here." I wasn't sure which surprised me more, the fact he was offering to give me his jacket, or the fact he knew Dante's work. Apparently he caught onto my line of thought, "I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but everyone knows that that 9th level of Dante's Hell is frozen, so take my coat, I'll be fine." There was a stubborn determination in his eyes that I wasn't in the mood to argue with, so I accepted.

By the time we got to his house he was about as blue as Drakken, but he still wouldn't take his coat back. Fortunately his new house had a good heating system, and the protection was enough to return the normal color to his face.

Again, he surprised me by offering something to warm the bones, without thinking I responded, "Some hot coco moo would be nice."

He was about halfway to the kitchen when he turned around, "Did you just say coco moo?" My only response was to nod and pray, "Well, at least I know you can't be who I thought you were, she hates it when her boss says that. I've seen her throw plasma at him for it."

"She obviously has a fiery temper, doesn't sound like someone you want to make angry."

"No, you don't want to make her angry. But it's kinda hard not to, I don't think she's an angry person, just the crap I'd bet she's had to put up with makes her very guarded." I was slightly taken back by his intuition about my alter-ego, but he didn't stop there, "Heck, I'd bet she just needed a good hug and a shoulder to cry on and she never would have jumped sides."

Playing my part I asked, "Was she a good guy or something?"

A smirk lit his face, "Good guy is such a relative term. I'll get you some... coco moo, and be right back."

We'd finally warmed up enough that neither of us was shivering when I suggested we go get something to snack on. A "Boo-yah!" and 10 minutes later I had a greasy heart-attack wrapped in a flour tortilla sitting in front of me. I did my best not to gag at the sight of him eating. Well I think that's what that was called, his food just seemed to disappear.

"Here, let me walk you home. It's the least I can do since you bought me to BN." I opened my mouth to protest, but he insisted, "Don't even try to talk me out of it, Julia, I'm walking you home." That was the first time he had said my name, the first time anybody had called me that in quite a while in fact. And it made me feel weird, almost like I was getting warm from the inside out, and my organs were trying to switch places; not uncomfortable, but not something I ever remember feeling.

Thankful that I was thorough enough to actually have a house set aside on base, we stepped in and flipped on the tube. TV Trash Heep was on and I wasn't about to let him know that I actually liked some of the shows they put on this, when he again surprised me by exclaiming, "Fearless Ferret! I love that show." My hand had stopped halfway to the remote, _no way is he serious_, "You wanna know something sad? It's kinda embarrassing, but I was the Fearless Ferret for a couple days. The guy that plays him was crazy, and thought he was real, but because he was too old to do it anymore he took me in as his protégé. I ran around in a skin tight brown suit fighting local crime, but kept getting myself in more trouble than it was probably worth." He was walking around the couch to sit down when he tripped over his own feet, "As you can probably see, I'm a bit of a klutz."

I helped him up, "You were the Fearless Ferret?" The disbelief was evident in my voice, there was no way this kid standing in front of me was a serious solo crime fighter.

Instantly defensive he reacted, "Yes, and I was pretty good at it, thank you very much."

The rest of the afternoon went about the same, the two of us getting to know each other. Well, I should say, I was getting to know him, and he was getting to know Julia. He couldn't handle getting to know Shego right now. I caught myself a few times actually having fun, and quickly put a damper on that line of thought. I can't get personal, I have to stay detached and make sure he's just too busy to go running around the world to help Kimmie out. Besides, why would I willingly get any closer to the Buffoon that I have to.

The sound of his stomach growling put a pause to our conversation, "Well, that sounds like my sign to head home. I don't want to get stuck out in the dark, it gets colder at night than it is during the day if you can believe it."

"Yeah, and we don't want your folks thinking I'm kidnapping you or anything evil like that, would we?" What can I say, I can't help myself once in a while.

Without even thinking about his response he remarked, "It's not like that, and it wouldn't be the first time I was kept out past curfew by a pretty girl or a super villain... not that I'm saying you're a super villain, because you're obviously not, you're a very..." unfortunately he stopped there and realized he was rambling, "And you're staring at me like I'm crazy."

"No, no I'm not staring at you like you're crazy..." I didn't even believe myself, "Okay, so maybe a little bit crazy."

"Never be normal, but seriously, I don't want to get lost out there. Whiteout during the day, and blackout at night, this place is miles and miles of bad road."

He offered his hand to help me up, I was slightly surprised at the strength in his hand, but realized he had to have good grip to hang onto the hairdryer thing. In my little absence of mind, I didn't realize he was pulling until I was off my seat and losing my balance, fortunately he caught me in a half hug. Quickly pulling myself out of his grasp I muttered, "Thanks."

Walking him to the door I was so busy berating myself for loosing myself in thought that I did it again. I barely caught him saying he'd see me tomorrow before the door clicked shut. I swear, I'm going crazy.

I finally forced myself to turn back and get ready for bed, I weaseled into this place, I might as well make good use of it. The beds aren't half bad, better than those cheap ones Dr. D always had at the lairs. He couldn't, or wouldn't, buy the good ones and what we had were barely better than cots. Besides, where else is safer than a US military base on foreign soil? Sleep was finally staking a claim on my mind when I realized that I felt strangely happy after today.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This is set a few months later. I don't own Mel Brooks either. And yes, this is a longer chapter than I have been for this story, but I couldn't find a good "stopping place" that I really liked.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

I was laughing, honest to goodness laughing. This had become a common thing in the last couple months of "Ron-watching", and I was finally starting to get used to it. He's a bit odd, but when you get right down to it, he's just acting like most people would if they didn't care what the world thought. I can definitely see why Princess kept him around; she's way too serious, he was her pressure relief valve. I had also proven what I'd been thinking when I started this little experiment, he has to be the reason she can do anything, heck, I feel like I can do anything after a being around him. Strange little boy doesn't realize the potential he has, both for himself and as anybodies personal muse.

I almost felt sorry for Kimmie, I mean, yeah she's doing okay with her missions. The villain message boards are still full of people vowing revenge for a newly disrupted plans. But with in the last few weeks, I noticed Ron hasn't been carrying around the Kimmunicator any more. And I can't remember the last time he stepped aside to call her, or take a call from her, they've all but lost contact. Shame really, it makes my job easier in the near future, but that annoying conscience thing I picked up in my martial training doesn't like it at all. And even when they do talk, it's brief and getting less and less personal.

I was at his place once when she called, apparently she'd just got back from stopping the 'Scotsman in a skirt with an unhealthy obsession with balls' (I made a mental note that I'd spent too much time with Ron). It also appeared that she'd convinced that chick that helped her out in Australia to keep doing the mission thing with her. Ron being overseas was too much of a drain on Team Possible's resources to ship him back and forth for every call. Heck, now that I think about it, even the last time she came to this side of the world, she brought Monique (at least I think that was her name) along.

My plan was working exactly how I planned, except one thing: I found out that I needed his help. No, not Julia asking her new friend at school, but Shego the soon to be world ruler needed Ron Stoppable (her former arch-foe's sidekick) to help her. I had everything in place around the world, the Brits were a pushover (a few threats, and a few more well placed bribes), Canada and France were even easier (the idea of war scared them into falling in line), all the third world countries I talked to were actually eager to jump aboard (figured with one world government their living conditions would improve I'm guessing). The Americans and the Germans were the hardest so far, German politics are already highly volatile and making sure people understood I wasn't part of the Neo-Nazi movement while at the same time convincing those close-minded nut jobs that I had their best interests in mind (which I obviously didn't) was a process that took almost 3 months by itself. And to make things more fun, I was traveling overseas to work on America. I knew I had to get them on-board or this was going to be a very difficult task. I quickly learned what it took to get them to step in line, lots and lots of cash. It took me about a week longer to pad the right pockets, including the Commander in Chief, to get them to agree to submitting when the time came (apparently fighting a war that they knew would end in nuclear winter didn't appeal to them).

Being able to jump through time is great, but getting things set up within a government for an internal takeover still takes time, as in actual time passage for communication for those that don't have the luxury of time manipulation. My only real problem, the one that I needed him for, was Japan. They were overly stubborn people, that wouldn't even let me get close enough to the right people to get things moving in the right direction. While our contacts in Yamanouchi were the same, they were also different. I had left on good terms, but after turning to the "Dark Side of the Force", as Ron once commented about Shego when he was talking to me about me, _brain pain, time travel and alias' suck_, I wasn't too sure I'd still be welcomed there. And I was almost certain that they wouldn't want to willingly help me take over their government. Ron however, had rubbed elbows with the people I needed to talk to (save the Emperor and they like you for some reason).

So here we were, stepping into Junior math class, I was laughing at him for losing his pants and making a general fool out of himself in the hallway, "Gee thanks Jules. Glad to know I can make your day better." The mock bitterness only made me laugh harder.

"I'm sorry, Ron. But when I saw the yellow smilies..." It became too much, I broke down again.

"Hey, I like the yellow smilies. I could have been going commando, what would you do then? Huh?" My eyes got as big as saucers, "Just kidding, as much as my pants come off, I don't do that... anymore."

"Sounds like an interesting story, you'll have to tell me all about it later." I couldn't miss the good-natured ribbing this whole situation had set up.

"Yeah, yeah. You probably just want to think about me without my pants on." Before I could get my hand to the back of his head, he ducked into his seat.

I went to try and hit my mark this time when the teacher came in, "You are so lucky Stoppable. Just wait till we're alone."

I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth, "So you want to see for yourself? Never took you for the voyeuristic type."

I knew he was goading me, so I just glared and mouthed, "Just wait till after school."

"Miss Go, is there something you would like to share with the class?" The heavily accented voice of the rather robust teacher drew Ron and my eyes forward, and everybody else's back towards us.

"Nope, I really don't think they need to know what I was talking about." _Crap, why can't I bite my tongue once in a while?_

She almost growled her response, "Then keep your conversations with your boyfriend out of my classroom."

I was in shock, I couldn't speak to come back, even if I could have thought of a decent comeback right then. Did she just accuse Ron and I of... _dating!_ How dare that evil woman even suggest that. Yeah, I'm actually enjoying pretending to be his friend, you might even say I am his friend at some level (just hiding a massive secret identity). But me dating him? How could anybody even begin to think that?

Somehow Ron managed to calm me down without saying anything, he could apparently see the fire building in my eyes. He wisely chose not to speak to me the rest of the hour, and most of the next, while I was still fuming. When I did calm down, we started speaking again, and to his credit he never brought up Math class. However, once my mind cleared from that incident, it started to focus on the problem at hand... How in the world am I going to tell him that I'm actually Shego, and that I need his help to take over the world, without him completely going ballistic on me? I figured out recently that he is a far more serious opponent than anybody ever thought, and on top of that, if things really go bad, he'll go running back to Possible... and that would be a really bad thing all around.

The rest of the day I was ignoring the teachers more than I normally do, focusing on how to do this. I knew I couldn't force him to go along, he'd put up a fight the entire way, and it wouldn't work anyways. This needed finesse, and I needed him to willingly help me. I almost laughed when I thought back to Math earlier, I could seduce him. Not gonna happen, I get along with him great, but there is no way I'd stoop to _that_ level. Besides, he'd never believe that I was falling for him, especially after my reaction earlier. There were a few other options I threw around, but none of them really seemed like they'd work, except appealing to his logic.

I know he doesn't apply himself, but he's a bright kid. His logic doesn't follow the beaten path, but I'd been around him enough to know how he did think, and how to put things so he'd grasp them quickly (I knew that teaching degree would come in handy). The only setback to actually telling him what I need, and convincing him to help, is he's going to be in shock from finding out that I'm me, or rather that Julia is Shego. It'll be hard to get anything through to him when he's in shock, and probably very little easier to get through to him once the shock wears off and he gets angry. I decided that I must be going crazy, because for a split second the only thing that I could think about was that I didn't want him to be mad at me. Shaking it off, I wrote him a note and slipped it to him during last hour, it simply stated, '_We need to talk.'_

After school I'm met at my locker by a very concerned looking Ron, "What's wrong? Nothing good ever follows the words, 'we need to talk.' Are you mad about what Mrs. More-homework-than-Barkin said? Because if that's the case I'll go talk to her, and make sure she knows that's not the case. I mean, it's not like I don..." His voice quickly faded, "Sorry, I was rambling again."

Putting on as serious of a face as I could manage, I looked him in the eyes and said, "Ron, shut up. It's nothing that simple," I glanced around at the multitude of people looking at us funny as they walked by, "Can we talk somewhere less public?" I knew his folks were out of town on business, and it may have had something to do with me pulling a few strings, but I needed him to pick a place where he felt comfortable.

Quirking an eyebrow he said, "Sure, the parentals are out of town on some business meeting thingy for Mom. We can have to whole house to ourselves." I knew he was calming down, and since I let him pick the 'turf' he should feel a little safer. Then he panicked, "Not that I'm suggesting anything we could do with an empty house, just talk, you said you wanted to talk. I don't want you to think that I'm..." I pinched his lips together, like I'd learned to do over the last couple months when it seemed like he was going to put his foot in his mouth.

"I know. Now let's go." Grabbing his hand I dragged him towards the door. He quickly matched my pace, but never let go.

Once we were inside I pointed to the couch where he promptly sat down. I'd been giving myself a prep talk the entire walk, but I still had to pace a little before I started. He started to ask once what was wrong, but I quickly held up a finger to silence him, he just watched me pace with a little worry in his deep brown eyes. I sat down opposite him, in the recliner and took a deep breath, "I have something really big to tell you. You are probably going to hate me for it for a while, and more than likely hate me more than you already do."

"But I don't ha..." I cut him off again with a finger.

"All I ask is that you don't speak until I say you can, I need to get it all out on the table before I answer any questions." He nodded, "Good." I stood up and walked around behind the chair I had been sitting in, running my fingers through my hair, I removed the tie I'd been using that day. My hair cascaded down my back, it felt good to let it do that for the first time today. Turning around I faced him, the confusion was wrote on his face as clear as day, "Ron, do you remember when we first met?" He nodded again, _good, at least he's listening_, "Well, that wasn't actually the first time we met." I realized this was going to be a lot harder than I originally thought, "In fact, if you remember, you thought I was someone else when you first saw me." He cocked his head to the side, but didn't say anything, "Well, you were right. I am Shego."

Silence. We'd been hanging out together for a few months, silence when we were together wasn't uncommon, and it was never uncomfortable. Until now, he just sat there looking at me like I was from the moon, and I was waiting on him to react. I was not prepared for what happened next, he laughed. I thought he was having a seizure or a heart attack at first, but no, he was laughing, "You... had me.... going.... for a min.... -ute there Jules.... You... are... Shego?"

Seeing this was going nowhere, I grabbed his chin with my left hand and stretched my right arm out and lit it up. The sobering effect was instant, "I'm not joking Stoppable. I'm Shego, the one who has tried to hurt you in the past, sidekick of the crazy Dr. Drakken, comet-powered, bio-plasma throwing, sharp-witted, Shego." I extinguished my hand and walked back across the room.

Standing there I heard a scuffling sound followed by a thud, looking back I saw him in full out panic mode. I had put a lot of faith in my guess he wouldn't attack me, and it paid off, "But... no... it can't be... KP... Wade... they'll prove you wrong... you can't be... I'm dreaming... time to wake up Ron..."

He started to get back up off the floor and make his way to his room, I couldn't let that happen, "Ron!" he froze in place, then slowly looked over his shoulder, I pointed to the couch again and said, "Sit." Slowly he complied, "Yes, I am Shego. I am also Julia. I've been Shego the whole time I was Julia." What I was saying didn't make since, but I think it finally sank in that I wasn't lying to him.

Imagine my shock when I don't see him get mad at me, that I expected and knew how to deal with. Noooo, the idiot had to look hurt. I barely heard him whimper, "You've been lying to me the whole time."

_Dang it_, out of the habit I'd developed lately, I moved quickly to his side and try to calm him down. Not only do I have a lot of things to discuss with him, but it didn't feel right for me to watch him hurting like that without trying to help. Even if I was the one that caused it, no especially when I was the one to cause it, "I know, I'd hate me too." But as soon as I touched him, he stood and walked away. Now it was my turn to be hurt, I know I just dropped a bomb on him, but he just flinched away from my touch and walked away from me. I didn't think it was possible for him to do that, and it apparently showed.

I was looking at the ground, cursing myself for getting this involved in this little project when I felt a hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry." I wasn't sure what he was talking about till I realized that I was indeed crying. But that still didn't answer my question about why he was comforting me, he shouldn't be trying to comfort me. I just pulled a proverbial rug out from under his feet, and yet here he was trying to make me feel better. I wanted to hate him for having that big of a heart, but how can you hate someone who is showing you honest to goodness friendship?

I'm not sure how long we sat there, not saying anything, his hand on my shoulder, just looking at each other. I was trying to figure out what was going on behind those dark eyes, and I'm sure he was doing the same. I broke the silence first, "Not gonna panic? Call Pri... Kim and tell her what an evil person your new friend actually is?"

He smirked, "Like she'd believe me. I mean, we've only been hanging out for how long? Kim would call me crazy and probably hang up on me. Seriously, if I've been hanging out with you for this long, you'd think I would have picked up on it before now."

"So... you're okay with me being Shego?" I was completely lost in his logic.

He laughed again, "Nope, I'm panicking like a little girl inside. But you had to go cry, and call it a character flaw or whatever, but you're still Julia which means you are my friend, villainous alter-ego or not." For a second I saw something rare on his face, a look of contemplation, before he asked, "You are still Julia, right? You weren't lying about that too?"

I wasn't sure how to react, on one hand I was a bit relieved that he was giving me a chance to discuss this but a little taken back by his innocent honesty. I managed to collect myself before he changed his mind, "Yes, I'm still Julia. And, before you ask, you are the only person outside my brothers that knows that. It's my real name." I barely whispered the last part, but I'm pretty sure he heard me.

"Forgive me if I take a while to adjust to being friends with someone that has tried to kill me before."

Call it woman's intuition, or maybe just spending too much time with him over the last couple months, but I cut off his next rambling session before it started, "No, I'm not going to try to kill you again. Although, to be fair, I never really tried to _kill_ you."

By this time he had moved to the recliner, keeping me at arms reach, but not hunching away either. "So, before my temporary case of sanity goes away, I have one question... Why?"

"Anybody ever tell you that you're too smart for your own good Stoppable?" I knew he hadn't ever been accused of that, most people probably didn't know he was fairly bright under his facade of ignorance, "Fine, I guess I owe you that much for lying to you the last few months." He involuntarily flinched at my confession, but didn't say anything about it and allowed me to continue, "Well, I plan on doing the stereotypical 'take over the world' thing."

"I thought that was a guy thing?" I swear his naive nature has to be intentional sometimes.

"Well, it may be. But I'm doing it, I've been sitting on the sidelines watching those fools screw up time and time again." _And now that I control time..._ "Then again, some people have questioned which team I bat for." It took a whole half second for that comment to sink in before his eyes were the size of tea saucers, "I don't, mind you, but you should ask your computer buddy about some of the sites he frequents that have a common theme about me trying to rob the Possible cradle."

"People think that you _like_ Kim? Haven't they seen you two beating each other within inches of your lives? That's just crazy, even for someone into... alternative lifestyles, that's just wrongsick."

I couldn't let him get off easy on this one, so I decided to make him sweat, "Alternative lifestyles? Exactly what are you talking about, S&M, Bondage, Sadism, Masochism... What would a 16 year old boy know about that?" When he turned beet red, and started hyperventilating I stopped.

Finally composing himself enough to speak, he tried to look me in the eyes (and failed), "Exactly, I'm a 16 year old male with hormones up to my eyes. And let's just say when your brother says I have the power of imagination, he has no idea how true that is." I was about to start giving him a hard time about having a hidden 'dark side', but he spoke before I got a chance, "Okay, I'm still in shock, because my mind is still working... how did we get from you taking over the world, to talking about... this?"

I'd been having fun tormenting him, but he was right, "Right, about that. Let's see, I'm going to take over the world, I've watched those other morons screw it up. Oh yeah, the big part of this whole thing: you and Kimmie are the only ones that can stop me." His mind was starting to calm down, because he didn't show any recognition on his face, "Okay, let me draw you a picture. I'm going to take over the world, you can't stop me and Princess can't stop me. However, for some unknown reason the two of you working together _can_ stop me." I knew the reason, but that was a couple years into the possible future, so it was really irrelevant to our discussion, "So, to make an omelet I had to break a few eggs. I went back and invested heavily in your mom's company, moved her here, knowing they wouldn't ask you before hand."

"Wait, what do you mean 'went back', and are you trying to tell me that you're the reason I have to eat meatcakes?" This was one of the rare times that I recognized the emotion written in his eyes, anger, and lots of it.

Without thinking I responded, "Doesn't taking you to Bueno Nacho almost every day for the past few months make up for all that?" His features softened a little, and I conveniently sidestepped his other question, "Now where was I before you rudely interrupted me. I don't know why I put up with it, if you were Dr. D, I would have chased you out of the room with the threat of bodily harm." It looked like he was trying to sink into the couch, "But after I got you moved away, I had to keep an eye on you, make sure you didn't finagle some way to keep up with the whole save the world gig. That would be bad for my plans if you kept that up, and what better way to keep an eye on you than this?" I made a gesture around, referencing the whole sitch. He glanced around a bit, but kept looking at me funny. After a few minutes of that I broke and asked, "What? You keep looking at me like I'm from the moon or something."

Hand in the cookie jar eyes, I love that look of surprise and fear in people's eyes, "No, I'm not looking at you funny. Nope, not me, I wouldn't look at you funny at all." I didn't even have to speak, I just lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, "Fine, I'm just trying to figure out how you look younger. Not that you were old or anything, but I know you didn't look this young when KP was bea... when you and Kim were fighting."

"The doctor did something right, he made a thingy called the Rejuvenator that actually changes someone's age." That look of contemplation was still on his face, even after I explained my appearance, "What is it now?"

As his head dropped to stare at his feet, and his hand went to scratch the back of his head he finally asked a question that was making headway in the direction I wanted him to go, "Well, it just doesn't make any sense. Why tell me? Why not just keep up the charade and let me go on thinking that you are Julia?"

Okay, so it was the direction I wanted to go, but I was dreading this part, "I need your help."

For having a bomb dropped on his lap he responded fairly well, "Yeah right, Shego, the mastermind that is going to succeed where all others have failed, needs little Ron Stoppable's help? Give me _some_ credit, I'm not that gullible." When I didn't reply his eyes got big for the umpteenth time that day, "Wait, you were serious." A nod later he continued, "Why should I help you? I mean, I'm supposed to be one of the good guys, and you want me to help you take over the world? Give me one good reason I should help you."

Something that rarely happens, happened. I wasn't prepared for that question, and I didn't have a good answer, "Why? Well, that's up to you. What? I need your help talking to some people." I can almost hear him scoff, "I'm serious, I just need to talk to them."

"Well then, go find them and talk to them. It's not like I can help you meet the..."

Cutting him off, I said two words that froze him in place, "Japanese Emperor." Apparently thinking I was off my rocker he started laughing, making barely understandable comments about how he couldn't do that, and things of that nature. I was starting to loose patience, I wasn't lying, and was a little offended that he thought I was after everything I'd already revealed. So, I sobered him up with one word this time, "Yamanouchi."

He was bolt upright and staring me in the eyes, "How do you know about Yamanouchi?"

It was my turn to laugh, as I sat back on the couch and lit my hand again, if for no other reason than to watch his involuntary flinch, "Let's just say I didn't always have this much control over my powers."

"So..."

"Yes."

He didn't say anything for the longest time. I wasn't going to interrupt him either, I could tell he was trying to figure out what to do. Three minutes of silence and he stood up and started to pace, and I sat there knowing he needed to make this decision on his own, "You just want to talk, right?"

Rolling my eyes, "Yes, I just want to talk and have tea with the old codger." I realize sarcasm probably wasn't the best idea, but his indecisiveness was starting to grate on my nerves.

Two, and part of a third lap around the living room he stopped and said, "Only if I go with you."

"No, no, and let me think about it, um... NO! Not going to happen." I trusted him enough to keep his trap shut, and to set it up, but there was no way in... _dang it_.

This kid was way too smart for his own good, he just sat down and started reaching for the remote, "Agony County starts in a few minutes. I know how you hate to miss it." Granted he was right, but I had more pressing issues than whether Brandy's baby was John's or Jeremy's, _my money is on Jeremy_.

The television was the only noise for a while, he was thoroughly engrossed in the show, ignoring me like he always does when there's something good on, _some thing never change_. By the time the first commercial came on I had made up my mind, I snatched the remote and blanked the screen, "Fine, but so help me. If you so much as breathe funny, I will fry your pale skin to a nice char-black color."

"You know, I liked it more when I didn't know you could do that." a brief flash of green caught his attention, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry.... now can you turn the TV back on, I want to see Jeremy's face when they show that John is the dad."

As the screen lit back up I commented, "I think you have that backwards, Jeremy is the dad."

"Nuh-uh, watch." I'm still not sure how he can completely block out the fact that I'm Shego and treat me the same as he did the last couple months when he thought I was _just_ Julia.

Twenty minutes later, the credits started their dance across the screen and I held out my hand, "Shut up, I don't even want to hear the 'I told you so' speech. Are you sure you haven't seen this episode before?" I knew he hadn't, seeing as how it was the first time it had aired.

It was about this time that I think his mind decided to catch up with him. His eyes were glued on me, and definitely keeping my hands in his field of view. The panic was wrote all over his face as he started talking to no one in particular, "It's really Shego. I'm sitting here talking to Shego, and haven't died, or gone to the hospital, or... wow, Shego is sitting on my couch. But, I feel fine, unless the blood loss is just making me delusional."

"Panic finally starting to take affect?" I was surprised he lasted this long to be honest.

"Nope, not panicking." Call me rotten to the core, but I couldn't resist and briefly allowed my hand to glow it's tell-tale green. He was over the couch and face planted on the floor before I could even start laughing. Eventually his head reappeared, "That wasn't funny."

Obviously I disagreed, "I thought it was. And that was the fastest I've ever seen you move."

I guess I scared the fear right out of him, because he sat back down and looked at me with a bit of curiosity, "Okay, I have to know: Why here, and why aren't you worried about getting caught?"

I groaned, "More questions? Haven't we played this game enough today?"

"Nope, if you're going to tell me now who you are... or who the other part of you, that is you, but not really you..."

I didn't mind him rambling once in a while, but I wasn't in the mood right then and cut him off, "Zip it or get to the point."

"Okay, well, if you're going to tell me everything you've already told me, which I guess you can't untell me, but..." he caught sight of the glare I was sending his direction, "What I'm trying to say is, you can't give me just part of it. You started this tumble down the mountain, I want to see the avalanche at the bottom."

"Such a poet, Stoppable." _I swear he's about as graceful with words as Duff in a fine china store_, "Fine, fine. Here's the quick version, I'm wanted in 11 countries and Norway wasn't on that list. And hacking government records to secure a house is covered in Villainy 101." I could tell he was trying to suppress himself from saying something, and just needed some motivation, "Out with it, if I have to talk, you have to talk."

"But..." at that point, it became a good thing for his health that looks can not kill, "Promise not to maim me?"

"Depends on how long you keep stalling."

"Fine, fine. No need to get physical, it's just... There's a lot of money in Norway, I figured you'd have gotten your hands on some of it at some point."

I chuckled, he was showing he was smarter than people gave him credit for, "Save the King, King likes you, you don't mess with the King's country." I grinned and winked before quoting in horrible imitation, "'It's good to be the King'." He started pacing again, running his finger though his hair, muttering things I couldn't quite catch. Finally, I got tired of waiting, "So, why are you going?"

It's adorable to watch someone who knows the answer but can't find a way to actually say it. "Well, talking isn't bad, talking is good really. And, I'd feel rather horrible if I set up a meeting, then things fell apart and someone didn't leave." My jaw must have tensed more than I intended, "Not that you'd ever do something like that, I mean look at me, you could just roast me right here, or who knows how many times you could have made mince-meat out of KP." He was backpedaling, and hard.

A hand in the air cut off his ramblings that I wasn't listening to, taking another breath I asked in a very level tone, "Do you think I'm a murderer? That I'd kill the leader of Japan to take over the world?"

Immediately he was waving his hands around, "No, no. I mean, maybe hurt someone, I still have bruises from where... you kicked me?" He seemed a bit confused about the other me in this portion of time attacking him when he knew _I_ was here. "It's not like we couldn't expect the worst, but really, honestly... I don't think you've ever had it in you to kill us. You can burn steel with that plasma, and KP never came home with more than a few singed hairs and a lot of bruises."

I acknowledge him with a nod, neither confirming or denying his theory completely. But, I don't think I needed to, we're friends and he can tell. I shake the thoughts off, "So, are you going to contact Wade or Princess? They may not believe you that you've been friends with me the whole time, but a chance to corner me in Japan... hard to turn down."

Again, I'm amazed at the array of emotions and thought in his eyes as he considers it for a while, "No." It's apparent he has more to say, but is organizing his thoughts into something understandable, so I stay quiet, "I'd have to tell them how I found out about the meeting. How we're.. how we're friends and I didn't notice before." He seemed a bit more convicted in his words the more he spoke. His word is enough for me, he's too straight-laced to lie to my face like that. As I go to ask him something, the buffoon managed to throw me yet another curveball, "Can I at least know why... how all of this is happening?"

My face scrunched up as I considered it for a bit. Finally deciding that he was as close to a friend or confident I'll have on this leg of the journey, I figure it can't hurt to explain things. I didn't plan on it, hoping the basics would make him happy and leave it alone, but as I started I found I couldn't stop talking till he knew everything. Several hours of summarizing what I'd done since acquiring the _Tempus Simia_, why I'd done what I'd done, and what my plans were for the relative future. Him emotions are going through a roller-coaster ride at several points, and he only stopped me once for questions. I'd just finished explaining that I was going to announce my take over, and with my contacts in both military and government circles backing me the majority of the world would fall under my reign relatively quickly and with little waste of resources, anyone that wouldn't... well, I had troops designed for that; well, modified synthodrones, improvements from Dr. D's designs.

"No deaths." I motioned for him to continue, I had planned on as little violence as possible, just threats of violence as far as they could carry mixed with the necessary demonstration of control, "Go to the future, find any non-lethal means of arming your troops as you can."

Now I was intrigued, he was talking as if this was inevitable, as if I'd already won, "And what, pray tell, brought this about?"

I thought I was prepared for anything, but even spending a few months at his side, being his friend... "I'm squeamish." It took a moment before his words set in... then, I had a good laugh at his expense.

Managing to get my wits back I chuckled out, "Just for you, I'll do what I can to avoid unnecessary deaths." He frowned at the condition, but nods knowing it's the best I'll give him.

Unsurprisingly, he started pacing again, his hands wild in the air as he seems to be ranting inside his head about something, I only catch mutterings that don't make much sense and decide it's best to let him think things through a bit. I know what he's going to do, he's predictable. He'll help me so far, but first chance he can I know he's going to contact Kimmie and Nerdlinger to let them know what's going on. I know I just have to keep him from doing that, and keep him from helping her get in my way; rather simple really when you can step around time like it's moving from room to room.

Unfortunately, the forces of chaos seem to have taken up residence inside that blond head of his, making him completely unpredictable, "I'm going to be your partner."

If I hadn't been sitting down when he spoke, I'm sure I would have fell flat on my perfectly proportioned ass, "Excuse me!?! I think you've taken one step off the deep end there Ronnie-kins."

My mind was reeling, this was not what I expected. Of course, being off center, I wasn't braced for when he turned and met my gaze, "Note, serious face here?"

There was only one thing I could do at that point, "Why?"


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER** A/N: D'oh, who expected that Ron ?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

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Several attempts were made at understanding, or explaining why, when he finally decided he wasn't sure why but it was 'something he feels like he has to do'. I knew it was all I was going to get, and figure I can pick his mind when he's less stressed. But, I'm not sold on the idea, having my nemesis' sidekick as my own sidekick... nice, but potentially hazardous; on the other hand, he's the closest thing to a friend or someone I can trust I have right now.

My decision is pressed when he flops into one of the chairs, "Say yes before I start second-guessing myself and change my mind." There's no spite in his tone, just a resignation.

"Fine, but a few conditions." He seemed exhausted and barely acknowledged me to continue, "The world will be mine when it's all said and done, and if you turn on me between now and then. Or if you even think about using the position you have to keep me from it..." I left it hanging, and to be right truthful I'm not sure I would have done anything at that point. Even if he walked straight back to his room and called up his chubby friend, I don't think I would have lifted a finger to hurt him. But, I needed him to think I would, and I hoped my acting was up to par today.

Two weeks later, I found myself walking out of a rear, heavily guarded, exit from the Emperor's palace. Making my way towards the hovercraft that I'd left cloaked nearby with a smile on my face. Ron turned out to be more useful than I thought, not only did he set this meeting up, but he managed to convince the advisor that while unpleasant, there was no need for bloodshed far faster than I had thought possible. Only thing left was to prepare the global broadcasts, make sure all the translations are correct, and figure out a couple more viceroys... Just need someone to cover Japan, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Ron was being quiet, I think the fact that he realized that he's helping take over the world rather than stopping me is finally sinking in; let's hope he doesn't change his mind about things. I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for him, yes I'll be the unconditional ruler of the globe, but most people's lives will stay relatively the same, and many will improve. Weather machines to help control crop growth, cloning technology to get rid of disease, synthodrones to maintain the peace...

I was happy as a jaybird as a ramp appeared in thin air for us to board, "You want to stop anywhere while we're on this side of the globe?" He didn't say anything, just shook his head and strapped himself into the co-pilot seat.

That's when things started going... not to plan. I fired everything up, and started programing the flight-plan home; half-way out of town though, the thing rejected my inputs and made it's way towards the mountain range rather than out over the Pacific. Frowning, I switched to manual and tried to turn us about, but the indicator wouldn't swap. We were going somewhere, I didn't know where, and I couldn't do a thing about it.

Ron and I both tried several times to correct things, including the "Fonz" fix, to no avail. I didn't carry the _Tempus Simia_ everywhere I went, and it was currently locked up in Norway at my place. "We're gonna have to jump, I'm not sure where this is going, but it's not where I want to go. I can get us a chartered jet out of the city, but if we don't jump now it'll be a long walk back to town."

"Do we have to? I really don't like jumping out of perfectly good planes." I rolled my eyes at his whining, _glad to see some things never change_.

I tossed him a parachute pack as I started strapping mine on, "Yes, unless you want to find your own way back." It's not that I wanted to abandon this hovercraft, it was a good model, and one of my personal favorites.

Unfortunately, Private Murphy and all of his wonderful powers decided to come into play and I couldn't get the door to release. Now, after seeing that there are infinite possibilities of what could be happening, and not being able to see them all due to the fact that my brain can't handle an infinite amount of information... I had no clue what was going on, but had a reasonably good suspicion that it wasn't an accident. Ron apparently agreed, "I guess someone wants to talk to you." He didn't seem upset by the idea, but concerned; it made me glad I managed to get him at my side, someone watching my back that I think I can trust is rather nice to have, "Get ready, I'll hide in the storage area and if they manage to capture you, I'll come get you out."

I actually managed a smile as I thanked him, "That won't be necessary, they won't capture me." He didn't seem convinced, and pointed to the auto-pilot controls, "My ship, not me." He still didn't waiver, "Fine, you can crawl in the hidey hole, I'll stomp 3 times on the door when it's clear."

He seemed to sigh in relief, "What kind of side-kick would I be if I let us both get caught." As he started crawling in he paused, "It would be better if they caught me and you came to find me... but, no one knows I'm with you, so they won't be expecting it. I just hope it's enough." I forced myself to roll my eyes as I nudged the door shut with my toe, but inside I was beaming at his belief in my abilities.

Settling myself into the pilots seat, I closed my eyes and started focusing myself in case I needed to get out of a situation with a bit of aggressive negotiation. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't more than 20 minutes later and I heard the tell-tail changes of the engines indicating it was beginning it's landing routine, I took note of where we were in relation to the city as I moved towards the rear of the craft.

The engines slowed and went into a full shut down, this bothered me slightly as it would take a few minutes to get everything running again. A glance out the front window from where I was showed the top of a couple older stone structures, but not enough to really get a feel for where I was.

_**Hisssss...**_

My attention immediately went back to the exit ramp as it hissed open and dropped welcoming me to leave. I was hesitant, because no one was visible and I really didn't want to step into the unknown. An old saying echoed in my mind, 'fortune favors the bold', so swallowing my disease I made my way down the ramp as regal and confident as I could given the circumstances. There was no one around, signs of people being there were apparent, but no one was visible. I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched either.

Once I reached the stone floor a voice came from behind me, "Welcome, Goh-chan." I wheeled at the first whisper of a noise, my hands already dancing dangerously, when I realized it was a familiar, and friendly face standing next to the ramp.

It all fell into place as I bowed politely, "Sensei, I was not prepared to visit you."

"I am quite aware of that, my child, but it is of little consequence." He turned and started making his way towards the structure she knew to be the living area, "Please, bring Stoppable-san when you join me for the evening meal. I fear he will get hungry if you leave him waiting there." It never ceases to amaze me how he can move so quickly and make it look like he's on a leisurely stroll.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I went back inside and stomped on the hidden panel 3 times; almost immediately he was crawling out as I grunted, "So, you were right, they could have captured me." I took quite a bit of joy seeing his confusion and concern, "Brush yourself off, we've been invited to stay for dinner, Stoppable-san."

"Boo-yah! Food for the Ron-man." He started towards the ramp before pausing, "Wait... Stoppable-san?" I just grinned as I walked past, grabbing his arm and tugging him along.

Dinner was a quiet affair, though I was on the receiving end of several subtle glares from the young woman next to Sensei that didn't quite set right.

As Ron finished the last of his many plates, the old man nodded once and started his way out of the room. The woman next to him was immediately on his heels, and with a shrug from Ron we both followed quickly. He led us to a small stone structure, one of the shrines, and took a seat facing the three of us, "Make yourselves comfortable, this conversation will be long and tiresome."

It seemed we all knew better than to think otherwise, he just seemed to know things and it was better not to ask. "Sensei, why did you bring us here?" Well, I thought we all knew better than to ask.

As I sent a glare at Ron, I noted the other woman seemed relieved he asked even if she wasn't going to herself. The old man just smiled, "Always direct. An admirable trait in the Chosen One." These words made Ron flinch, and peaked my curiosity. Before Ron could get the words out he was opening his mouth to say, Sensei continued, "It is all right, she can know the truth." Turning his attention to me and locking his gaze with my eyes his voice became slightly more serious, though I'm not sure his tone ever changed, and began a long detailed explanation of 'Stoppable-san' and his destiny involving the Lotus Blade and the Mystical Monkey Powers.

When he finished, I was a bit gobsmacked... I knew he trained here, but I never stopped and listened to the details of what was going on; maybe I should have. Ron was the one to break the silence, his voice quiet and without much of his liveliness I'd grown accustomed to, "I'm not certain I'm still worthy to wield the Lotus Blade, after all... well, you know."

The soft grandfatherly smile never left his face as he nodded, "I'm quite aware of current situations." He pauses and tilted his head as if listening to something I couldn't hear, "Would you call the Blade to you now?" Looking unsure, Ron nodded and closed his eyes. I'm glad I didn't, or I'd have never believed it when there was a small flash of light signaling the appearance of the blade in his hands. If anything, Sensei's smile widened, "You know the Blade would not answer to anyone who is not it's proper master, yet you question your worthiness to carry it? Humility is valuable, doubt in oneself is destructive." Satisfied with the nod 'The Chosen One' gave him, he turned to me, "And you, my dear Goh-chan. Finally moving to make your mark on our world, the question you must ask yourself: what will your legacy tell once you are gone, hmm?"

There it was again, that glare from the woman next to him. I'd had enough, but did my best not to lose my temper in the shrine, "You, I don't know your name, but you keep glaring at me like I stole your puppy. What's your problem?"

Apparently I wasn't the only one trying to reign in a temper, "Shego, my problem is that you seek to rule the entirety of the planet, and you seek to do so while beguiling The Chosen One away from his rightful path of providing peace and protection." I almost missed the gleam in Sensei's eye as she took a breath to continue, "Instead, you wish to use him as a weapon, a tool to achieve your own goals of power."

At this point Ron started waiving his arms around, "Wait, she's not doing any bugling, I don't even think she has a bugle to use." That shut down any attempts of correcting the little upstart I had planned in my mind as I tried to figure out if Ron was being serious, or if he was intentionally trying to break the tension.

"Yori, have you considered what Goh-chan is in the process of doing? Actually sat down and studied her plans, or are you making assumptions?" There was a heavy, unspoken 'again' at the end of his question. The flush on her face made it clear that he'd touched a sensitive topic for her, "Goh-chan, would you please enlighten my pupil as to your intent?"

It wasn't a request, and as reluctant as I was to announce the full details of things to this perfect stranger... It took about half an hour to break down the basics of what was going to happen, avoiding the tedious things while focusing on the broader picture for her. When I was finished, I was quite satisfied to see her shame in the accusations on her face, "Gomen-nasai," There was a hesitant pause as she considered something for a moment, "Shego-sama."

The three of us were a bit taken back by the change, but Sensei recovered first, "It would be proper to address ones ruler in such a manner, but I'm afraid that an old man's habits are hard to change, Goh-chan."

That night, as I was getting ready for some shut-eye, a hushed voice whispered, "Shego?" I glanced towards the rice-paper door and recognized the outline of Ron standing there. Quietly, I made my way over and slid the door open, "Sorry if I woke you, just... can I make a suggestion?"

This was a first, up till now he'd been following my lead almost without question, "You can make it, doesn't mean I'll listen." I couldn't help but grin as he rolled his eyes, he was starting to catch on that I was pulling his chain most of the time... our friendship wasn't fake. Based on a lack of facts, but nothing false or untruthful to it.

"Talk to Sensei and Yori, have her take this region. Japan, the islands, and Australia." When I raised an eyebrow in surprise, he shrugged, "Call it a hunch, but... it feels like the right thing to do."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: things are falling in place, but will it work or will Kim and Co. wreck yet another attempt at world domination?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

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There was one thing I hadn't planned on... the citizens. I had the governments, I had their military's, I had their opponents' governments, I had their opponents' military's, but... I didn't have all the people. It wasn't perfect, but the majority of casualties were avoided.

Many of the starving corners of the world welcomed my rule with open arms. Putting the angry golfer over Africa turned out to be a wonderful idea, the man could make volcanic pumice sprout daisies if he wanted. Turning portions of the plains into viable cropland was child's play for him, and in trade, he got an entire continent to play golf on with it's own built in water hazards, each with several lions and other wildlife to top it off.

In the east, as with most places, I found that the less I promised to change things, the more likely the locals would continue doing what they were doing... just under my flag. Yori turned out to be useful, and was instrumental in stopping the initial crime spree the local Yakuza tried to put into play during the confusion of the 'change of guard'.

Europe was mostly a walk in the park, when the Queen was left as a figurehead the UK shrugged it off and went back to their rainy lives. The Swiss took a bit of convincing, but when I told them I needed a global banking system put into place, and eventually a unified currency... there were very few that had any objections to someone increasing business for them while causing minimal disturbances in their normal lives.

The biggest problem came from the far West. Both American continents were heavily armed, and quite content with the status quo. At least, they were initially. The drug lords of South America refused to see reason, saying the world needed their products... they changed their tune when the mutant bugs created by DNAmy ate every narcotic plant they could grow and seed for crops were delivered by some synthodrones. Mexico and the US had similar problems, they liked their lives the way they were for the most part, and they'd seen enough 'big government' to fear my reign would take their firearms... well, I knew it'd be near impossible to get them all, and it'd be a fight tooth and nail for each and every one. So, I reestablished people in the former wildlife division into my system, and put things into place so very little was changed. The lack of immediate change made the transition go much smoother.

"Supreme One, reports of another launch has been reported. It seems some are not content with your rule." I really liked them when they couldn't talk, but I needed bodies on the ground without putting lives on the line. As I waved it off, Ron came in.

Something wasn't right, he wasn't making eye-contact and was shuffling his feet, "Ron, what's going on?"

If I wasn't sure before, the way he muttered on his way to take a seat nearby gave it away. After a few deep breaths, and attempts at starting he finally sighed and spoke, "I want to let people know. Maybe I can convince them not to fight; KP and Wade will listen to me, maybe we won't have to fight them."

I could hear it in his voice, he was scared. Not of losing, but of facing them and winning, "I'll give you one chance, and there will be an entire squad of synthodrones with their NLEWs and gasses."

There it was, that gleam in his eye.. hope. He was smiling again, "Thank you."

Contacting Nerdlinger hadn't been hard, announce it on Shego Network News (SNN) and within three minutes my personal cell phone rang, "Supreme One speaking." I still get a grin when I say that.

"Shego, this is Wade. We got your message." He sounded like he was running on three days worth of caffiene and no sleep.

"Oh good, I was hoping you hadn't stopped watching the news." There was a bit of commotion in the background but I kept going, "Me and my... associate would like to speak with you and Ms. Possible at the earliest convenience."

"What about?" That wasn't the Nerdlinger, it was the unmistakable voice of Princess herself.

My grin only widened, "Peace talks, it does neither of us any good to fight amongst ourselves. I've already taken the key to the planet, there's really no reason for you to cause discord, is there?"

Imagine my surprise when the two voices got quiet as if the mike was covered, but didn't mute things allowing me to hear them arguing whether or not to do it. Finally, Wade's voice came back over clearly, "I'll send you coordinates once your hovercraft is near Middleton. Any thing else approaches the area and I'm pulling her out."

Before I could respond, the line went dead. "Well, what did they say?" I glanced up as he took a seat next to me on the couch.

"They agreed. Well, Kimmie agreed to meet us somewhere near Middleton, Wade is going to send me coordinates once we're near the city." I stood and offered him a hand, "You really want to do this?"

He sat there for a few moments, thinking and staring at my hand for a moment before using it to pull himself to his feet, "No. But it's something that has to be done, or they'll keep trying to undo what we've done." As we started moving towards the hangar he smirked slightly, "We're going to Mount Middleton, probably where DNAmy was doing experiments."

I'll give Ron credit, he knew what he was talking about. As I pulled the craft around a few trees, the scanners showed some of the old equipment was still laying broken in the cave.

As we touched down, and the engines went into idle, I wasn't surprised to see a head of red hair appear from apparently nowhere, followed closely by the rest of her. I couldn't help but shake my head at the precaution of using a cloak to wait on me at a position they chose.

True to my word to Ron, as soon as I dropped the ramp, the 6 armored Synthodrones carrying their NLEWs and gas canister launchers filed out and stood at attention. Walking between them, I kept my eyes on Kim and in the direction she came from, hoping this wouldn't come to blows today.

"What do you want to talk about, Shego, that you couldn't talk about on the line?" I cringed, she was angry... pissy, and I really wasn't in the mood to deal with her shit.

"Princess, dial it down a notch, I don't have much to say. I think the proper phrase is, 'I'm just along for the ride'." Her hair was more frazzled than normal... she looked like she needed a hot shower and a good day or two of sleep. Drakken could have lasted five of ten minutes against her in this condition.

Her patience was running thinner than normal, "What kind of game are you playing, I'm not going to bow down to you. And you can't honestly expect me to be okay with a super-villain taking over the world?"

I saw her take a breath to continue her rant, then deflate as if someone had stuck a pin in a balloon. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Ron reach the bottom of the ramp, "It's 'bout time you joined us, she was getting ready to chew my ear off."

In one of his rare moments of seriousness, he put his hand on my shoulder and nodded towards the hovercraft, "Wait by the ramp please, I need to do this without distraction." I saw the raging emotions in the redhead's green eyes, but there was a confidence in Ron's soft tone that let me nod and go take a seat to watch from a distance. He was still speaking quietly, but it seemed to carry rather well and I could hear him clearly, "Hey KP. Long time, no see?" She still hadn't shaken herself out of the state of shell-shock she was in, "I know this looks bad, but... KP, I did the best I could. You always told me I was full of potential, and well, I'll be honest, I never believed you. But then, I was given a chance to do something good, take something that could have been horrible and made the best out of it." He scratched the back of his head as he chuckled, "Well, the best I could anyways. I know if you and Wade were to work with us, we'd-"

He never got to finish that statement as her fiery temper overcame the other emotions keeping her in a deadlock, "Don't you dare, Ronald. You were my friend, my best friend, and you turn on me? Join up with a villain, and help her take over the world. And now? Now you're asking me to work with _her_ and you together?" If she hadn't been yelling at him, I would probably have found the fact her face was nearly as red as her hair humorous, "What's your price? How much did she have to promise you to get you to change sides? Did she offer me as a slave if you were a good little boy? Or are you sleeping in her bed nowadays?"

I was already moving towards her when he held out a hand, "No Shego." Even then, he knew it was a pointless exercise, but he wouldn't give up so easily. Once I moved back, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at Kimmie, "KP, you don't mean that. I never changed sides, I found a way to do good with what she was doing. If you'll come with us, we can show you."

Up until that point, I'd never really heard a person growl words like an animal, "Don't you 'KP' me EVER again, you got that? I see how things are now, it's 'work with _us',_ 'come with _us_', and '_we_ can'. You're with her, you've made your decision. I hope you can live with it." She spat on the ground between them and started towards the cloaked vehicle she'd brought; Ron winced, but took a step towards her only to receive a glare that made me shudder before she vanished from view.

The sound of her hovercraft taking off was clear as he stood there staring at the point she'd disappeared from. He wasn't moving, and I was quite aware of the blow he's just taken... one I was afraid he'd take, one he knew was possible, but it wasn't one you can brace yourself for. As I stepped up behind him, I heard him whisper the age old question that many have asked, and many more will ask, "Why?

When my hand came to rest on his shoulder, it was like the world landed with it; his knees gave out, and I barely caught him before he went face first into dirt. Picking him up and carrying him back towards the hovercraft I couldn't help myself as I tried to calm him down, to stop his pain, the tears, the pleading; I had never hated anyone more than I hated Kim Possible right then. I wanted her dead for what she was doing to him, but would never order it because of what that would do to him.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

I managed to contact the Lunar Colony, Ron's parents had fled along side the Drs Possible. And I wanted to establish good relations with my closest, galactic neighbor. I was a bit surprised when the short actuary glared at me from the other end of the line, "I refuse to negotiate with the woman responsible for my son's death." There were a number of agreements from those nearby.

The line was cut before I could correct their assumption, then I realized... it was Kimmie and her computer nerd that did it. They lied to them to prevent any chance of peaceful negotiations.

A string of colorful curses were slipping out as Ron entered the control room, "Plumbing back up again?" I motioned for a chair, and once he'd taken a seat I explained what had happened, "They.. they think I'm dead, and that you're the one that killed me?"

I had to stop him as he tried to reach a console to contact them himself, "Ron, please... think about it for a moment." I knew as well as he did, they wouldn't take the news any better than Princess did. If they thought he was dead, maybe that would be better for everyone.

My heart nearly tore itself out of my chest when he looked at me and nodded, his eyes were holding more pain than I thought he could bear, "Ron Stoppable.. is dead." I wrapped my arms around him and pulled his head to my shoulder as I felt the first sobs wrack his body, "Why?" With some effort, I led him back to his room, giving him a bit of time to calm down. As I sat him on his bed and pulled one of the chairs close, he cleared his throat, "It hurts, knowing I'm doing the best I can... and it's not enough."

I'd had enough of this, "It's not enough for what? Do you realize how many lives you're responsible for saving? Before you suggested it, all of the drones were going to be armed with disintegrators rather than the NLEWs. I probably would have put the crazy golfer in charge of Scotland, just so he would shut up; now, he's helping feed an entire continent and playing his own personally designed courses."

As I was taking a breath to keep going he cut me off with a quiet whisper I nearly missed, "Thank you." I lost all my wind to keep going as he seemed to get his feet back under him, meeting my eyes he forced a smile, honest but pained, "I needed to be reminded, I'm not doing this to make people happy... but, to fulfill my destiny, providing peace and protection where I'm able." There was a few minutes of comfortable silence before I saw a spark in his features, "BN?"

Leave it to Ron to think of food as the answer to his crisis, "I'll have it picked up." I didn't want to remind him, now that he's 'dead' we can't have him walking around in broad daylight. "I still say you're going to have a heart attack if you don't slow down on that."

The servants were clearing the table as we made our way to the control room, "I think I'm going to go visit Midas, you want to join me? This whole 'taking over the world' business is hard work." I stretched my neck, feeling the tension I needed him to work on.

"Yeah, it's a private area, and I don't think any of the people there will recognize me." I was pleased to see he was starting to apply his brain a bit. The walk-in safe swung open as we approached, recognizing both of our biometric scans, and out of habit I made my way towards the _Tempus Simia_ only to have Ron grab my arm with a frown, "Let's use the transportulator."

A phone call later, we were both standing on a terrace, overlooking a vineyard, "Mind telling me why you didn't want to use the monkey?"

Ron glanced around and motioned for the stone railing, "Sensei gave me some scrolls to study... The _Tempus Simia_ is one of the evil artifacts created with the MMP. At first, I didn't believe it, feeling the power in me, I just couldn't see it being used for something bad." He leaned against the rail and looked out across the green below us, "I was wrong, some people have twisted it for their own purposes."

"Apparently they didn't use it well enough, or they'd be the ones holding it and doing things their way. Right?" I'd never really thought about it, and was never really interested in how the old monks made the thing.

"No, they used it too much, and realized it too late. Why do you think it was separated and put in different parts of the world?" When I shrugged he continued, "They realized it was evil, it feeds on it's user. Draining their life from them to power itself." He chuckled sadly, "The worst part, you can't go back with the intent of telling yourself not to use it... the idol won't respond if you try."

"So you're telling me, no more walks through time using the monkey idol?" I really didn't like the idea of losing the ability to use my ace in the hole... but I didn't like the idea of having my life drained by a little stone monkey either, "Midas is calling, and Lena is with him." Resting my hand on his shoulder for a moment,

I gave a gentle squeeze, "Thank you, but let's relax for a bit before returning to our new world order."

I woke to a soft knocking, the clock read 3:00 and it was dark out my window. I mumbled for them to enter, figuring it was just a drone with something important to report.

Imagine my surprise when, instead of the heavy foot falls or light whirring of the hover-bots, I barely heard the footsteps of my partner in this endeavor, "Julia?" I pulled the sheet up around me as I sat up and turned towards him, "Why am I still here? Or, I guess, why are you keeping me around?"

Just what I really didn't need, Ron second guessing himself when I'm half asleep. With a grunt, I motioned for him to take a seat as I moved over and made room, "Do you want to be here? Do you want me to kick you out the door?" He quickly shook his head, "Then why worry about it? You're my friend, you've helped me, and I'm sure you will continue to be by my side and help me for quite a while."

"It's just, I know I'm not the greatest sidekick you could have. I mean, I know I'm not completely useless, you've beaten that into my skull enough; I just don't know what my purpose is anymore." I just smiled as he leaned back next to me, it's rare to see him this focused, but it reminds me that my choice was right all along, "I helped you take over the world, and in doing so I saved countless lives. I made suggestions that you put into effect that turned out to help millions. But now, what is my purpose?"

"Exactly what you're doing now. Being my friend, supporting me in what I do, and you know I'll be there when you decide to do something stupid." Ruffling his hair I smirked, "It's what friends do, even if it's three in the morning, and we should be asleep. We're there for each other."

* * *

A mechanical voice reported, "Attempted breach of military firewalls in progress."

"What does he think he's going to accomplish?" I groaned as I hit the switch to send the spike, immediately the warning went away. Unfortunately it would take a couple minutes till my network was back at 100 percent.

Ron, who had been sitting in the corner reading comics looked up, "He's trying to do what I used to do... distraction. Kay-" The words fell off for a split second before he popped to his feet with his goofy grin, "Kim is probably trying to infiltrate 'home base' right now."

"You don't think they've seen through the fake?" I glanced around, almost expecting to see her drop out of one of the ventilation grates.

He shook his head, laughing, "That's the problem with her, she overlooks the obvious answer in favor of the more difficult solution. There's a highly defended central operation command in the heart of Middleton, why would anyone think to check the basement of the highschool? It's always being remodeled, so no one questioned the construction to build this place."

Sure enough, as the rest of the systems returned to full capacity, an intruder alarm signaled people in the main command building. Shaking my head, I flipped the switch that flooded the entire sky scraper with knock-out gasses, "Shall we go say hello?"

* * *

Having taken the time to make sure she wasn't still carrying any gadgets to enable her to escape, and triple checking the restraints, I nodded to the closest synthodrone to wake her.

It pressed a metal cylinder to her neck, and with a short hiss she started to stir, "I'm sure your head feels like you went to a rock concert with a hangover, so I won't take too much of your time." I was almost impressed by the glare she threw at me, "It's over, we won, the world is ours. Why you won't accept that is beyond our understanding, but we can't allow you to continue to put people's lives at risk."

The venom in her voice was unmistakable, "We, you keep saying that. Where is your sidekick?" I was surprised how she nearly spat the words out. Though, I guess I shouldn't have been.

"My partner? The one that you and Wade decided to kill?" That glare was worth a mental pat on the back, good to see I can still get under her skin. Glancing at the clock I turned towards the exit, "Don't worry, you'll be given the best accomodations available. You're an honored guest, a reminder of the futility of resistance."

* * *

"Wade?" I paused as I heard Ron's voice through the door, "Come on Wade, answer. We've got Kim, and there's no reason we have to look for you." This was new, and not planned.

"Ron?" I didn't even have to see the kids face to know he was shocked, "No, this is a trick, Kim said you were dead. Nice try Shego, but I'm not falling for it."

Sliding the door open enough to peek in, I saw a myriad of emotions play across the blond's face, finally settling on that kicked puppy pained look he'd perfected, "Wade... she, she lied." He took a breath before jumping off the deep end and explaining everything that had happened, how he was working with me to save people. Deciding it was safe to enter, I slipped in and took a seat where Ron would see me, but Wade wouldn't pick up my presence. There was a long debate about morality, right and wrong... choices and decisions, before Ron dropped the big one, "Will you work with us? Or..." He never finished his thought, it was evident he was trying to avoid thinking about what we'd done to Princess.

Wade was a genius, but not a decision maker. It took answering another dozen questions before he finally agreed, "I'll do what I can to bring people around, but if I just start trying to change their minds right now... I don't want to think what the tweebs would do to me." As they shared a chuckle, I saw Wade's features pale, "Oh no, the Tweebs. They're on the way to break her out now, and if what you said is right, there's no way I can convince her."

We made best speed to where we were holding her, but anything is possible for a Possible; double for those two brats. I let loose a string of curses as we left the detention facility. It was perfect, there was no way to escape from inside, and Wade's robots were far from capable of springing her. They worked like a well oiled machine together, never spoke anything except gibberish, systematically taking out the defenses before releasing their sister.

"Why didn't we think about this? Of course the tweebs would help, they've grown up watching her save the world time and time again." Ron was in the process of beating himself up over the whole thing.

I wasn't happy either, but it was an unexpected hic-up. One we'd correct next time, I had no doubt there would be a next time, Princess wasn't going to give up that easily, "Easy Stoppable, we made a mistake. Not our first, but it's not the end of the world."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: That last line sounded a bit ominous, didn't it? It's a short chapter, but this one is intentionally that way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

I expected her to take a bit to recuperate, maybe even talk to Wade and see if he could cool her temper. When I was fixing supper, the last thing I expected was to be interrupted by another intruder alarm going off.

Glancing at the screen in the kitchen, I noted the gas-mask as she entered the structure. Ron showed up as I was making my way upstairs, we were going to deal with this personally, I didn't trust the bots not to screw it up.

Four blocks later, and she was already making her way through the third floor of the building. Shaking my head I glanced at Ron, "She sure seems to be in a hurry."

He nodded and was immediately distracted by the payphone ringing as we ran by, glancing around and deciding it was too much of a coincidence I stopped and nodded for him to get it, "Hello?" His eyes got big, "What do you mean, she found out?" Frustration became apparent as he glanced in my direction, "We'll do what we can." Hanging up a little harder than necessary he gritted his teeth, "She found out somehow that we'd talked to Wade, she's pissed and out for blood."

"Wonderful, doesn't that kid know how to keep something a secret?" This was not good, Princess was a loose canon now.

The guard drones that were at the gates stood aside as the two of us started sprinting across the courtyard to the main complex. We'd nearly reached the doors when the sound of glass shattering caught our attention from above, there she was jumping out a window and firing her grapple for the roof. Son of a bitch, why did she have to be so damn reckless... I spared Ron a glance, and he knew what was happening, just as well as I did. I tried to call the drones to catch her before she fell, or at least cushion her fall; but she kicked one into another, sending them careening away to explode against the side of the building.

The hook sailed over the top edge of the building, as sure of a shot as she always has.. I swear I heard the fritz, it's not possible over that distance and the other surrounding racket, but I know I did. Instead of pulling taunt like she expected, the retract switch pulled the laser severed end of the mono-filament back to her. I tried to make my way to catch her, Ron was beside me the entire way.

There was a wet thud that seemed to echo in my core, I prayed to every God, spirit, or being that might be listening that she was alive. She'd fallen from farther, she'd taken harder hits, of course she was going to be banged up, but alive and mouthing off as soon as her head cleared.

For a moment, the hatred I saw on her face when I got close gave me hope. But it never wavered, no grimaces of pain, no cursing my existence; my knees gave out a couple steps before his. He made it to her side, begging for her to be alive, checking for a pulse, listening for a breath; all in vain.

_**Beep beep, da-beep.**_

Ron nearly jumped out of his skin before managing to pull the device from her pocket. "Kim! Your bio-signs vanished, I was..." He must have noticed it wasn't Kim he was facing, and the anger from that little boy seemed to radiate from the device, "Ron. Where is Kim? What did you do to her?" That was enough to push him on over the edge; I watched as he folded to the ground, sobbing, and forced myself to move to his side and pull him close, trying to calm him. "Shego, what happened, where's Kim?" Nerdlinger was sounding desperate.

I tried, a couple times to say something, but every time words failed to form as I opened my mouth. Settling for just shaking my head, I returned to trying to comfort my closest friend. I heard the tubby kid saying something, and eventually start yelling, but I was ignoring him. At least, I was until he said something that I wasn't expecting, "We'll even the score, remember that Ron. You turned your back on us first, her blood is on _your_ hands." I was getting ready to melt the little thing when it fritzed and fell apart on it's own.

* * *

I aired the funeral on every station, in every language. The Possibles were given escorts planetside and back to their craft, it was the least I could do after failing to save their daughter.

After spending many hours meditating, trying to work out my own thoughts on the situation, I finally figured out... I didn't want her to die. Not because of her connection with Ron, but because she was someone for me to measure myself with. It may be greedy and self-serving, but I wanted her to see what I accomplished. Rivals, till the end, I knew there would be a piece of me that died with her that day.

The hooded figure next to me never moved through the entire ceremony, complete silence. His fingers laced with mine, we drew comfort from the contact as people said their parting words.

Then, it was my chance to speak, for both of us. "Many will see this day as the mark of a reign made of terror," There were more than a few murmurs of agreement with that statement, "But this tragedy, this _accident_, ended her life far earlier than it should have. She was a friend, a role model for many, and loved by some who were close. Even with the differences in opinions, and views of the world, know that her loss will be felt by us all." I was forced to pause, to keep my voice from cracking, "In honor of such a strong young woman, I hired a monument be built in her honor. That generations from now, people will remember the name and the story of Kim Possible."

* * *

As the five off us made our way towards their craft to return them to the Lunar Colony, I tried to open the door again for possible diplomatic relations. Only to have the little actuary interrupt me, "Excuse me, Madam Supreme One, but as you are either directly, or indirectly involved in the deaths of both of the ruling families of the Lunar Colonies children. Perhaps it would be prudent to save your efforts."

He couldn't have hit me harder if he had stolen Hego's blue glow. Approaching the craft, I paused at the end of the carpet laid out for them, "Whether you will accept it or not, I had no intent of killing your daughter." I slid a disk out of the pouch on my leg, "This is a copy of the relevant security footage. Hate me if you have to, but consider my offers of peace."

Mrs. Dr. Possible stepped forward and took it from my fingers, "You've taken my daughter, you've taken my home, the list goes on for quite a while." My stomach was churning as she spoke, "Yet, you don't hide from the fact. You're standing here, facing reality." She glanced at the other three with her before locking her eyes with mine, "We'll think about it, then be in touch." There was shock on their faces, but the red-head's voice didn't leave any room for immediate discussion.

With a nod, I turned and started away. Hearing the low rumble of their craft taking off, I wondered if there was hope of fixing things yet.

The walk back to the control center was quiet, I think most were taking the day inside and I was grateful for the solitude. Maybe I should have let them know that Ron was alive, but I couldn't tarnish their view of their daughter; allowing them to know she lied and manipulated them would solve nothing, in fact it would be liable to stir up more trouble than it was worth.

Sounds of Ron dealing with his grief met me as soon as the door opened. The loud sounds of mass quantities of fast food Tex-Mex being consumed would have made me ill if my stomach wasn't already knotted, "Ron, cut it out... You keep that up, and I'll have to run this place on my own." He paused and looked at me oddly before returning to his food, slower and with a bit more etiquette than he had been using as I made my way to the gym.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This is the final chapter in the first story of this series. It is a bit of a wrap-up on the official "take over" phase of The Supreme One's rule. Thank you for staying along for the ride, and I hope when the next ones come out you'll enjoy those just as much.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible, if I did, I would be rich and my stories would be on TV rather than here.

* * *

A woman's voice screaming pulled me instantly from my sleep, putting me on alert. It took me several moments before I realized it was my own voice that had woken me, my screams.

_Creeeaak._

Someone was outside my door, the only loose floorboard in the entire house. I almost jumped out of bed when the door cracked open slowly, the only reason I didn't is because I knew the only person that was in the house was Ron. "Come in." I could make out his silhouette as the door finished opening, and he made his way in, "Sorry for waking you." To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure what caused me to scream, I never was one to remember my dreams.

"You didn't wake me." His voice was quiet, as if trying not to wake anyone. It made me smile, we were the only two in the house, no one else to wake up.

Almost as surprisingly, I found myself talking in conspiratorially quiet tones as well, "Nightmares again?" His sleep had been wracked by them for the first few weeks following the accident, they'd tapered off, and it'd been a while since I'd heard him call out in his sleep.

I was a bit surprised when he shook his head, "You have to sleep to have nightmares." Before any questions could be asked I could see his face turn to one of concern, "What about you? This is the first time you've woken yourself." I'd long given up trying to hide what I was thinking from him, he'd proven himself to be my friend and someone I could trust, so I wasn't surprised when he nodded and continued, "Yeah, you've done this a couple times. Usually, I manage to calm you before you wake up though, sorry."

Shaking my head at his admission, I chuckled, "You sneak into my room every night, and calm me in my sleep. Instead of getting some sleep yourself?" His abashed grin told it all. Moving over, and making sure the blankets were still wrapped around me, I patted the bed, "You want to talk about it?"

There was a hesitation before he took the offered spot, "Julia, I didn't know it, and it scares me to think there's things I don't know about myself." I stayed quiet, resting my head on his shoulder as he formed his thoughts into words, "I know why it hurts so much, it's so simple... It was love. I didn't realize it till you gave me something to think about during you speech, did you know it?" My silence was enough of an answer, "I want to be angry with you, blame you for taking her away before I realized it, before I could tell her." I couldn't help myself, I pulled away and rolled to face the window, he had every reason to hate me right now, I couldn't blame him, "I don't, Jules, there's no way I could blame you for that; heck, it was my idea to put the lasers there in the first place."

Instantly, I was facing him again, "Don't you dare start blaming yourself for her recklessness, you tried to convince her not to fight." As always, the rest of my thought was held back; how could she call him her best friend if she pretended he was dead, and wouldn't trust him enough to give him a chance?

The corners of his mouth tugged upwards slightly, "Yeah, reckless, stubborn, intelligent, caring..." Almost as an after thought he continued, "Beautiful... You know, I almost went and used the _Tempus Simia_ to save her, knowing it what it would start doing to me."

My eyes went wide, I knew first hand what he was talking about; how I felt like I'd aged more than I should have, the desire to use the idol again always tugging on the back of my mind. "I put it in stasis for a reason." When he nodded in agreement, I allowed myself to rest against his shoulder again, "You were right, I don't like to admit it, but I'm not going to let you get hurt by that thing."

The pat of his hand on my arm put my mind to ease as we laid there in comfortable silence for a while. I'd nearly fallen asleep when I felt him stir, "No more nightmares, sleep peacefully. Okay?"

I grabbed his arm before he could get up, I needed him there, one night, to draw comfort from, my best friend. It took him a bit before he rested his head back, staying on top of the comforter, as I retook his arm as my pillow, "Only if you get some sleep."

* * *

"Madame Supreme One, I am pleased to report the greater populace of former Russia, India, and China are adapting to your rule quite well." The smooth voice of Senior Senior Sr. filled the conference room as I asked for reports, "Even the slightest improvements in their ways of life have increased productivity a considerable percentage, with the continued support of the global government, I see no reason for any... trouble to crop up." The subtle jab at the troubles in the former States wasn't missed, but I didn't need to alienate my viceroys yet.

With a nod to Duff, he put down the golf ball he'd been playing with, "A' up in arms 'bout bein' short stroked into 'aving to deal with not movin' back to Motha Scotland. It does gi' meh great pride to see Imma doin' something for em, and they don't mind the ruckus I make."

Monte cleared his throat, "Yes, while you're down there beating around the bush with the natives..." I barely contained my laughter when my 'masked friend' put a hand on Duff's shoulder as he was getting ready to cross the table. The Scotsman nearly wet his kilt and returned to his seat, "As I was saying, Europe is doing well as a whole. Civilized populations realize when they are in good hands, and aren't causing a fuss. Some minor in-fighting, between former borders trying to hold onto nonexistent national identities."

"Ooh, is it my turn?" I had to grit my teeth to bite back a snide remark at the overly bubbly woman, "Well, all those mean men that were making those nasty drugs are putting their efforts to good use growing food. And the bugs I made are keeping any of their naughty schemes from working, hehehe."

There were several people who looked like they wanted to claw their ears off as well, so I continued around the table, "Shego-sama, I am please to inform you that District 6 is peacefully adjusting to the reign of the Supreme One." I almost sighed in relief, my staff wasn't full of complete incompetents.

All eyes turned towards the blue lab coat humming at the refreshment table. Seemingly on cue, he spun with a pitcher proffered, "Coco-moo anyone?"

* * *

"What do you have to offer in trade for the Hephaestus Project? This isn't toys you're asking for." It was times like this when I wished they knew Ron was alive, he's so much better at convincing people to do things without threatening bodily harm.

With a heavy sigh I met the de facto leader of the Lunar Colonies' gaze, "Adaptive, living metal, programmable to do a nearly unlimited number of things; you've already told me that. And I've already given you a list of goods we'd be willing to exchange."

His eyes again read over the sheet in front of him, "Food, Oxygen, research materials, construction equipment for expanding... All things we can already acquire."

It took a good deal of effort not to punch him for being so stubborn, "When was the last time you had a steak dinner rather than processed proteins?" Not giving him a chance to answer I kept going, "What happens if your air scrubbers fail, or the greenhouse decompresses? When was the last time you read the research of your colleagues working planetside? And if the Colonies decide to grow in population, where are they going to live? Last I checked the only expansion you have available to you is for a radioactive research lab, not more living quarters."

This seemed to catch his attention for a while, "I'll run it by the others, we'll be in touch." As he stood, I realized I was being dismissed. Though, I was surprisingly happy to see him pause before stepping out of the room, "You really don't need to make the trip every time we need to speak, Madame Supreme One."

As I boarded the craft to return, I couldn't help but throw something at Ron sitting there with a smirk on his face, "Shut up, Stoppable, I don't want to hear it."

"What?" He feigned innocence, "I was just going to mention how much easier that went without plasma induced threats."

"I wasn't sure they'd agree to talk to me at all." As I strapped myself in, a grin spread across my face as I noticed the pre-flight already done, "I take it you weren't too certain either?"

He shrugged as he secured his own harness, "Hopeful that they'd watched what happened and we'd given them enough time to calm down." I offered him a nod as we started the rather quick journey back home, "Time, a cornucopia of disturbing concepts."


End file.
